Cute story of a dog who was adopted out of a dog pound by a boy. Since the dog had always lived in a cage with a cement floor, he had never learned how to dig. At his new home, he is so excited to be there until some other dogs appear and start bullying him when they realize he does not know how to dig. He is determined to learn though, and when he finally gets it, he gets so excited and can't stop and ends up digging up the whole town. When his owner and the rest of the town show their displeasure, the dog fixes his mess. The grandkids (especially the boys) liked this one. ( )

Depressing, from the pet store purchase to the servile behavior of the dog, to the threat by the lad to send the dog back to the pet store. ( )

The digging-est dog is at Dr. Suess like book that keeps the reader engaged with what they are reading. We see Duke, the dog in the story, start out with not being able to dig like the rest of his dog friends. But, then one day he learns how to dig and ends up digging everything in town. His owner comes and gets mad at him, so the book ends with him digging everything back into place.

This book is a great book for a 2nd or 3rd grader because it is slightly longer, however it uses simple, predictable language. It also uses rhyming to it's advantage.

I would use this book in my classroom to talk about how this dog got into trouble, and then fixed his mistakes by putting everything back. I could use this book as an anticipatory set to the students talking about how to resolve problems and conflict. It would be a very fun way to do it. I could also use it as a read aloud story just to allow kids to listen to a story.

This story is definitely fantasy, although there are parts that allow students to get wrapped up in the story. ( )

Funny, but exasperatingly unrealistic. ?áJust all of a sudden a dog raised on a concrete floor in a pet store can outdig all the farm dogs? ?áRight....

(Read in The Big Red Book of Beginner Books.) ( )

Full review coming soon. Check here for updates:
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