“Bark, George” by Jules Feiffer is a children’s book about a dog named George who can not bark.
At the beginning of the book George’s mother asks him to bark. Rather than bark he “Meows”. George’s mother explains to him that cat’s meow, dogs on the other hand bark.
She asks him to bark again and he quacks like a duck, again and he oinks like a pig, and finally he moos like a cow.
George’s now frustrated mother takes him to the vet to see why George is having so much trouble with barking. The vet discovers that the reason why George is having so much trouble barking is because he actually has the other animals inside of him. The vet reaches down in George’s throat and pulls out a cat, duck, pig, and even a cow. After all of the animals have been removed George is able to bark.
George’s now relieved mother takes George out on the town to show him off. When she asks him to bark out in public he instead says “Hello”.
“Bark, George” is a fun short story that is perfect for younger readers. I used this book in one of my kindergarten classes this week and the kids loved it. The vocabulary in the book is pretty consistent with a kindergarten reading level so a kindergartner or even an advanced preschooler will have no problem reading it. The only word the kids seemed to have a problem with was “latex”, when the doctor puts on latex gloves before removing the cow from George’s throat.
This can be a fun book to make your children feel more comfortable with their reading, as well as have a little fun. The kids really liked making the sounds for all of the animals, and thought it was hilarious when the vet discovered that George had all of those animals inside of him making him not able to bark.
“Bark, George” is available at most book stores as well as online at Amazon.com