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Reading Rockets' children's literature expert, Maria Salvadore, brings you into her world as she explores the best ways to use kids' books both inside — and outside — of the classroom.
The dog days of summer
It's hot today. And humid. And hazy. Looks like the dog days of summer have arrived.
Maybe that's why the title of a recent book caught my eye: My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks & Other Family Portraits by Hanoch Piven (Schwartz & Wade Books).
The narrator describes herself as a princess who is majestic, sweet, sharp, and sparkly. This confident child has a dog named Schmutz who is 'as stinky as an ONION... as nasty as canned FISH... as icky as PEPPERONI, and as smelly as DIRTY SOCKS.' And when you look at the image created by her, well — Schmutz is literally made from a couple of grubby socks and everything else in the description.
Not only is the language fun, so is thinking about creating portraits from items that convey these meanings. What object suggests strong, kind or nasty? What comes to mind for funny? Smart? Silly?
The illustrations are clever and so is the link to portraiture. It might be fun to create family (or class) pictures with objects while coming up with additional similes.
It's a cool activity to do during the dog days of summer!
