Hurrah for Essays! All writing lessons should be this much fun.
When cousins Dennis and Mellie decide to get a dog, they consider carefully what breed would be best for each family. For example, Dennis wants a big dog, but Mellie wants tiny. He has no other pets, but she has other pets that a dog must get along with. They consider different dog personalities, family situations, and personal preferences. Dennis writes an opinion essay for his teacher, Mrs. Shirky. But will his essay convince his parents to get the dog of his dreams?
This story takes a popular subject—kids getting a pet—and adds dogs of all sizes and shapes: all writing lessons should be this much fun. In the end, it’s cousins and the dogs that keep a reader turning the page. What kind of dog will Dennis choose? Will Mellie want the same kind of dog?
PRAISE FROM DOG EXPERTS
“Darcy Pattison does a remarkable job on several fronts with her wonderful new book I Want A Dog: My Opinion Essay. She introduces the value of the written text at an early age to children. This cannot be emphasized enough in our early classrooms. With this comes an important lesson regarding the responsibility of owning and caring for a dog. As President of the Labrador Retriever Club representing the breed with the largest number of dogs I know how imperative responsible dog ownership is and Darcy does a wonderful job instilling this at an early age. This is a remarkable children’s book that has a lesson.â€
–Fred Kampo, President of the Labrador Retriever Club
This story hits many notes:
- A family story about cousins, Dennis and Mellie
- Information on dog breeds
- Responsible dog ownership
- Mentor-text for teaching writing
- Model opinion essay for elementary students
- Models the writing process, especially the importance of pre-writing or planning before you write
- Completes the writing process by showing the results of Dennis’s essay
I WANT A DOG almost makes opinion essays look too easy.
See other books in THE READ AND WRITE series:
I Want a Cat: My Opinion Essay (forthcoming)
My Crazy Dog: My Narrative Essay (forthcoming)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Growing up, author Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com) wanted to be an astronaut. Instead, she writes about aliens in her early chapter book series, ALIEN, INC. SERIES (Mims House), which includes Kell, the Alien; Kell and the Horse Apple Parade; Kell and the Giants; and Kell and the Detectives. Published in eight languages, her middle grade novels include: Saucy and Bubba: A Hansel and Gretel Tale (Mims House); The Girl, the Gypsy and the Gargoyle (Mims House); and Vagabond (Mims House). Recent nature books for children include: Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma: The True Story of an Orphaned Cub (Mims House); Wisdom, the Midway Albatross (Mims House), a Starred Review in Publisher’s Weekly; Desert Baths (Arbordale), an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book 2013; and, Prairie Storms (Arbordale). Darcy Pattison is the 2007 recipient of Arkansas Governor’s Arts Awards for her work in Children’s Literature. For more see darcypattison.com/about
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
In her debut picture book, Ewa O’Neill (ewaoneill.com) creates art that is luscious, inventive, and colorful, bringing the story energy and humor. A dog-lover herself, Ewa (pronounced Ĕ-va) gives each breed a personality that helps kids begin to tell dog breeds apart.
