Fly Guy Presents: Dogs

Gr 1-4–Arnold’s informational series “Fly Guy Presents” offers an easy reader book about dogs. It starts when a boy called Buzz, and his pet, Fly Guy, arrive at a dog show. From then, these two characters amuse readers with dog-related jokes, while the text provides information about a variety of dogs using a first-person narrative style. Readers will learn that dalmatians are known as “coach dogs,” because they were bred to guard horses and coaches; the chow chow and the Chinese shar-pei have blue-black tongues; and that greyhounds can run as fast as 35 miles per hour for up to seven miles. Easy-to-read paragraphs with medium-size white or black font are set to backgrounds that span from notebook pages to purple- and blue-colored settings. The mixed-media illustrations, arranged around the text in collage-style art, support the content with photos, black-and-white or color, of different sizes. These depict a variety of dog breeds, which sounds staid, but the artwork gives the presentation a vitality that will keep readers turning the pages. Jokes are set in text bubbles, and fun facts are organized in simulated sticky notes. This book could be used during a group activity on types of mammals in a social studies unit. The back matter contains tips for choosing the perfect pet and suggests adopting from an animal shelter.