George the Hero Hound by Jeffrey Ebbeler

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George the Hero Hound
Author: Jeffrey Ebbeler
Published March 20th, 2018 by Two Lions

Summary: George is a good ol’ hound dog. He helps Farmer Fritz with the chores and—most important of all—he keeps those sneaky cows out of the cornfield.

Then Farmer Fritz moves away, and a new family from the city moves in. The Gladstones have a lot to learn. George tries to help, but they don’t understand his job on the farm…until the day little Olive goes missing, and George shows everyone what it means to be a hero hound!

ReviewFirst, I have to talk about how much I just love George, his expressions, and his story. Just look at that cover! Don’t you want to just follow him around?! But you want to know what made the story for me? The extra story that was told through the illustrations. George’s story that is told through the text is a look at figuring out home when things change and dealing with a new situation, and George is definitely the hero in all of it; however, it is the hilarious stories told in the background that add just the extra HAs! to the story. Watch for the cows to make some Mission Impossible-esque moves and for the Gladstones to make some silly mistakes.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: What a great way to introduce storytelling through words and illustrations. When I did my Caldecott unit with my middle schoolers, so many of them didn’t know how to read a story without being told it in words. Use the illustrations in the background for a creative writing prompt to have students write an alternate text for each page using what is going on in the background of the told story.

George’s tale would also be a good text to use to introduce theme and the idea that a text can have more than one theme, depending on which character you are learning from.

Discussion Questions: 

  • How is George a hero?
  • What do you think the cows’ master plans include?
  • How are the Gladstones different from Farmer Fritz?
  • What are clues that the Gladstones are from the city?
  • How does the author indicate dialogue versus narration?
  • What is a clue that would have told the Gladstones George’s name?

Flagged Passages: “George was a good old hound dog. Every day George was up, even before the chickens, to help old Farmer Fritz with the cores. That rust-bucket tractor was always falling apart. . . and those wily cows were always plotting to get out and feast on the cornfield.”

And some passages from after the Gladstone family moves in:

Read This If You Love: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman; My Dog is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson; Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin; Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell; Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer

Recommended For: 

 

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**Thank you to Two Lions for providing a copy for review!**

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