My Perfect Picture Book is really here, I promise, and if you’re in a hurry you can scroll down, but remember that special celebration I mentioned Wednesday? Well, today is a special day so I have to digress for one second!
Not only is today Perfect Picture Book Friday, it also happens to be my Brown Dog’s birthday! She is 5 today – a very nice age if you ask her 🙂 so please join me in a rousing chorus of
You are all invited for yellow cake with vanilla icing (which dogs are allowed to have a small piece of on their birthdays) after the post 🙂 (In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ll pretty much take any excuse for cake around here :))
And so you can see just how wonderful she is, here is a picture of her when we first met her:
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| how could anyone this cute have needed to be rescued? |
And here she is in her mature beauty 🙂
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| Best Brown Dog Ever! |
And now, in honor of Scout’s birthday (and because this is one of my all-time favorite picture books in the whole world) today’s selection will be Officer Buckle And Gloria. In case you were wondering, Gloria is a Brown Dog too 🙂
Officer Buckle And Gloria
Written and Illustrated By: Peggy Rathmann
Putnam Juvenile, September 1995, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 4-8
Themes/Topics: friendship, safety, being sensitive to others’ feelings
Opening: “Officer Buckle knew more safety tips than anyone else in Napville. Every time he thought of a new one, he thumbtacked it to his bulletin board. Safety Tip #77 NEVER stand on a SWIVEL CHAIR.”
Brief Synopsis: Officer Buckle gives the most boring safety speeches ever until Gloria comes along. All of a sudden, the students sit up and take notice. When Officer Buckle realizes what’s going on, his feelings are hurt. “No more speeches,” he says. But Gloria is no better without him than he was without her. In the end, they both learn the most important tip of all – “always stick with your buddy.” 🙂
Links To Resources: Classroom Activity, More Classroom Activities, Safety Tip Poster Activity, Captioned Media Program, Home School Lesson Plan
Why I Like This Book: This book is a touching and delightful story about friendship. The illustrations are hilarious, bringing Gloria’s outrageous antics to life. The safety tips are true and a good lesson, but presented in such an amusing way that kids won’t feel like they’re being taught or preached at. The same is true for the message about friendship and being sensitive to the feelings of others. This is a book you will be happy to read again and again 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
Also, another note about Perfect Picture Books. Our list is growing so beautifully that it’s getting harder to search. I’m working on adding an alphabetical listing by book title (so it will be easy for you to see at a glance what’s already been done) and by blogger (in case you love someone’s particular style!) If anyone finds any errors, please let me know! Just so you know, before today’s posts are even up, we have about 110 books on the list in about 75 categories, from about 24 devoted bloggers! And that’s after only 8 weeks!
And now- because I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t teasing you about something 🙂 – tune in Monday for the announcement of a brand new feature!!! It’s going to be a good one (I think!), but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until Monday to find out what it is 🙂
PPB bloggers, don’t forget to add your link to the list below!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Happy Birthday Scouty!
Great book pick, I think I will have to go read it again.
I've added my link…but I hope it takes it..I had to shorten it with bit.ly because it was too long and sometimes the linkys don't like the shortened link. I'll also email you the link, just in case.
Love the Officer Buckle story…and the addtion of your pup's pictures was perfect!
Happy Birthday Scout! What a beautiful pup you are!
This sounds like an awesome book! I am going to see if our library has it. I can't wait to hear what next you have in store! Have a great weekend!
Happy Birthday Scout! Enjoy your small piece of cake. I wonder, who will eat the rest? 🙂 Hmm. We might need this book ASAP as one little guy has discovered how to violate safety tip #77. (If you need help with the list, I'm around this weekend. I struggled the other day to sort through titles. Let me know.) I enjoy staying “tuned in” for something else.
Happy 5th Birthday Scout! She is so pretty and I love her name. Officer Buckle and Gloria looks so familiar. I have a feeling my boys read it in school. Looking forward to your surprise!
Awe. I had a Scout too! He was a beautiful German Shepherd and we miss him very much! 🙂 So “Happy Birthday” to your Scout. She is a beautiful dog and maybe part German Shepherd as well? I can remember boys really enjoying Officer Buckle and Gloria, so great choice!
Happy Birthday Scout! What a cute dog and guess what we share a birthday! How cute. Cake all round, don't worry about crumbs today.Matthew wants to know how old Scout is.
Love your pb, sounds awesome and can't wait for your surprise!
I am so, so glad you rescued he and she found such a loving home. She looks adorable.
Officer Buckle and Gloria is such a winner…. Kids so love to be in on Gloria's antics behind Officer Buckle's back. Super choice, Susanna.
*whew* I finally made it here….lol. I kept getting kicked off, I think others were posting at the same time…. oops now I see my link has appeared twice….oh dear!
I sooo love Scout, such a beautiful dog, give her a birthday cuddle from me! Love your Picture Book Susanna, so colourful.
I think we are getting used to these little surprises popping up.
Happy Birthday Scout! (Great name) I really like the book. I like dog books and this has a great message. I like safety tip # 77!
Scout is beautiful! And such a cute puppy. Happy Birthday, Scout! (Like Erik says) 🙂
I love the way this book sounds and one I want to read.
So glad the list is growing so successfully. Am proud to be part of it. I like your idea of organizing it further, Susanna. You have your hands full. Thanks for doing all you do. 🙂
Happy birthday to Scout!
And I'm happy to say I joined in perfect picture book today 🙂
Thanks for the book recommendation. Your dog is sooooo adorable~ both as a puppy and now. Makes me want to have a dog again 🙂
Thanks, Erik! Scout is named after Scout Finch, the heroine in To Kill A Mockingbird (arguably one of the best books ever written!) She's glad you approve :)Safety tip #77 is a good one, but if you ever read the book, NEVER LEAVE A THUMBTACK WHERE YOU MIGHT SIT ON IT and DO NOT GO SWIMMING DURING ELECTRICAL STORMS are very entertaining too 🙂
Your welcome, Jess! And Scouty really is awesome! Even though she was 7 weeks old when we rescued her, it's like she knows she was rescued. She's the cuddliest dog we've ever had – gets right up on the couch and snuggles – very nice on cold winter evenings 🙂
Scout says thank you and her cake is still in the oven but she hopes you'll stop by for a piece later :)And OH YAY! I'm thrilled that you've posted a PPB! Can't wait to come check it out!
Happy Birthday, Scout! You're a very lucky dog to have been rescued by such a wonderful family (but you know that already, don't you!).
I'm finding that I like to look at the list of titles before I start clicking and try to figure out which title was reviewed by which person. The fact that new people are joining in every week makes that more of a challenge, but it's a delightful challenge to have!
Looking forward to your surprise — your surprises are always worth the wait.
I know! Things are hopping today! PPBs is going to turn into a full time job :)Scouty thanks you for your kind words and the cuddle :)And maybe I'll have to start surprising you by not posting any surprises – I wouldn't want to be too predictable!
Happy Birthday to Scout! He looks very huggable! Officer Buckle And Gloria sounds like a book I need to read. I will put it on my list.
I love surprises so waiting til Monday will just make for a sweeter surprise :•)
Yay for Scout!!!!!!! We do a lot of rescues too. (Hubby says the rescued animals will nudge hi out.) Ha!
Excellent recommendation!
Surprise?? I love surprises. Can't wait. (((hugs)))
Scouty thanks you for the felicitations! And I'm sure you will enjoy reading it again. I love it every time. My kids used to pore over the end papers with all the extra safety tips… NEVER EAT MAYONNAISE THAT'S BEEN SITTING IN THE SUN!
I think I've got your link working now Vivian! I hope :)Glad you like the book and the pup! 🙂
Scouty thanks you for the wishes and for noticing her incomparable beauty 🙂 I think you'll really like this book! It's full of useful tips iike NEVER PLAY IN THE MICROWAVE OVEN!
Scouty says thank you! And she will most certainly enjoy her cake! I have NO IDEA who will eat the rest, but I'm sure we'll figure out something :)You and the little guy will definitely enjoy this book! The pictures are SO funny! And it's full of helpful info such as NEVER PUT ANYTHING IN YOUR NOSE 🙂 (My youngest was the QUEEN of that!)I am open to helpful, organizational suggestions about how to organize the lists so they're most useful. Right now there are 3 lists: alphabetical by subject/category with ages; alphabetical by title (subjects and ages coming); and alphabetical by blogger with titles and dates. Eventually all the titles will be linked to the pages, but I have to go through and start from the beginning because I didn't do it originally. There are 110 books up already and 20 more from today so far so I'll just pick away… 🙂
Happy Birthday Scout!
Scouty thanks you, Beth :)That's so funny! I do the same thing! It's hard, though, because sometimes I'm not familiar with the book so I'm not sure who might have picked it. And yes, with new people joining in each week that adds to the challenge :)I HOPE you will like the surprise!
Thank you, Miranda! WOOF 🙂
Checking out your site via a link from Coleenpatrick.com. What an adorable dog you have! 🙂
I'm so glad to hear you're a rescuer too 🙂 Of all the dogs we've had, all but one were rescues. The one that wasn't was the worst experience I've ever had with a dog – very long story. Rescues are the best 🙂 Glad you like the book, and I HOPE you'll like the surprise – ya never know…! Oh and BTW, feel free to join PPBFs any time!
Why, thank you, Emily! I'm so glad you stopped by and hope you'll be back! Are you a picture book writer, reader, or teacher?
Scouty thanks you for your birthday felicitations! She is UBER huggable – cuddliest puppy we've ever had :)You should definitely check out Officer Buckle – you write humorously, so I think you'll enjoy it!And you're such a good sport about waiting for the surprise – I hope it's worth it 🙂
Scouty thanks you for the birthday wishes and for saying she's cute 🙂
Officer Buckle is really fun – I think you'll like it!
And thank you for being a part of PPBs and making it so successful 🙂
Thanks, Natalie! I'm sorry you're only remembering your Scout 😦 It's so hard when they leave us behind. Our Scout is definitely part German Shepherd, but if I had to guess I'd say also Australian Cattle dog (she's very sturdy), Rottweiler (look at those eyebrows :)) and Lab (she LOVES to swim and will do so anywhere – including mud that looks like pudding!)
Scouty says thank you and please, have a piece of cake – it's delicious! :)Your boys may well have read Officer Buckle – it's been around for a while and is really fantastic!Glad you're looking forward to the surprise – I hope you'll like it 🙂
Thanks and thanks, Joanna 🙂 And remember, ALWAYS PULL THE TOOTHPICK OUT OF YOUR SANDWICH!
Happy Happy Birthday, Catherine! I hope your day is wonderful and the year ahead is full of all good things! 🙂 You may tell Matthew that Brown Scouty is 5 years old today 🙂 I think you would both enjoy Officer Buckle, and I hope the surprise will turn out to be worth waiting for… you kind of never know with these things 🙂 Happy Birthday again!
Just a reader. I have a 3 and a half year old. 🙂
Aww, that's so nice! I miss those days – mine are all teenagers now! But if you ever need picture book recommendations, you've come to the right place! 🙂
Emily (unregistered) wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
Just a reader. I have a 3 and a half year old. 🙂
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First of all, Happy Birthday to your Brown Dog! He is the cutest! I have a black and tan dog too. You can really see his soul in those eyes!
And your PB sounds so adorable. I love the “we're better together” theme.
I was noticing how the list has grown just last night when I checked to make sure the book I submitted wasn't already there. Congrats on a successful feature Susanna.
Now… you're making us wait till Monday?! The suspense….. Have a great weekend! I've got some books to check out from today's posts.
I've been on your blog all afternoon responding to each entry. Great selection. But, almost forgot to comment on your book. Perfect choice with your dog's birthday. Like how the officer and dog find a way to compliment and depend upon each other. Love the selection.
I love Officer Buckle and I have loaned my autographed copy to many kids.
Awwww. What a cute puppy!
This sounds like an awesome book! I loved the sample tip.
Thanks, Stina :)And read down through the comments – there are quite a few more helpful tips 🙂 Here's one just for you – #31 NEVER STAND UP IN A CANOE!
Happy Birthday to Scout. She's BEAUTIFUL!!!
Just a quick note about the book I featured for PPBF this week, ellington was not a street — although most people picked up on the musicians in the book, there are also civil rights activists, and even the man who was president of Ghana at the time! So it's a real portrait of the people who were at the forefront of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Happy Birthday, to Scout. She's BEAUTIFUL!
❀Barbara❀
Grade ONEderful
Sounds like a great book. I've never heard of it, so I will have to check it out!
I think you will like it!
Thank you, Barbara! i think so too, but then I am very biased because I love her so much 🙂