The Good Dog

By Todd Kessler and Jennifer Gray Olson

Discovering that sometimes you have to be a little bad to be very good, Tako the puppy makes a brave choice in this adventure tale and proves that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. When 8-year-old Ricky Lee finds a puppy on the side of the road, he takes him home and names him Tako. Ricky’s mom and dad agree to let Tako stay under one condition: he must be a good dog who always follows the rules—or it’s off to the pound he goes. Tako wants more than anything to be a good dog and stay with Ricky, but when the Lees open Happy Family Bakery and a competing store owner sets out to sabotage the shop, Tako has to break the rules to protect Ricky and his family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Coralstone
• Release date: Oct 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9780989808583

Book preview

Reviews for The Good Dog

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Ricky Lee finds an abandoned puppy in a cardboard box, the young boy takes him home and names him Tako. Ricky's parents tell him he can keep Tako if the puppy is a good dog, and at first all goes well. But when the Lees open a new bakery, and encounter a run of seeming bad luck, Tako forgets his vow to never leave the store by himself. For the 'bad luck' is really the result of jealous fellow bakery-owner Mr. Pritchard, who has been sabotaging the Lees. Tako's valiant effort to defend the Happy Family Bakery late one night leads to misunderstanding, and he is briefly imprisoned at the city pound. All is eventually cleared up however, after Mr. Pritchard's nefarious scheme is revealed through Tako's intervention...Although in general agreement with author Todd Kessler's position, as outlined in the rear dust-jacket blurb about him, that children don't necessarily have short attention spans, if they are truly engaged in a story, I nevertheless found The Good Dog rather unwieldy for a picture-book. I appreciated the message that sometimes dogs misbehave, and that this doesn't make them bad dogs, but otherwise I found the story somewhat melodramatic, thought Mr. Pritchard was a cardboard villain - he actually sits in his bakery late at night listening to the the clink of his coins - and felt that the text itself was often a little flat. I like the idea of a text-heavy picture-book - it's something I'm often asked for at work - but can't work up much enthusiasm for this one.

[blog_gal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my review.

Ricky Lee finds a dog in a box and brings him home. His parents say that he can keep the dog as long as it is a good dog. This is a great book for children who are interested in having pets. The illustrations are great and the story is wonderful!

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book and have already read it to my grandson. Ricky Lee was out riding his bike one day and bumped into a box. When he looked inside, he discovered a tiny puppy that had been abandoned. He scooped him up, tucked him inside his jacket and rode home, hoping his parents would let him keep the tiny puppy. His parents agreed that he could keep the puppy with one condition, he had to be good. Ricky named him Tako and he loved him. Tako was so happy and grateful because now he had a family that loved him and that would take care of him. As we all know, it is hard to be good all the time when there are such interesting things around to distract you and tempt you, especially when you are young, whether you are a child or a puppy.

The Lee family moved when they bought a family bakery in the heart of their town. The only bakery that had been in the town was Pritchard's Bakery and the baked goods were not very good, they were stale and crusty. The Lee's baked goods were fresh and delicious and everyone in the town started to go to "The Family Bakery" instead of Pritchard's. Unfortunately for the Lees, Mr. Prichard was a mean greedy man and he was not happy about the competition. He decided to sabatoge the Lee's Bakery. He would sneak in at night and let loose a variety of insects and vermin. When the Lee's business was going down the tubes, Tako heard a noise downstairs and went down to investigate. He saw a man sneaking out of the store and he chased him. He went out of the store and all around the town until he lost sight of the man and then realized that he was lost. He also realized that he was not supposed to leave the store so was now doing something bad. Would the decision to try and save "The Family Bakery" cost him the home and family that he so desired? Would the Lee family be able to save their bakery? Would Mr. Pritchard get caught?

As the end of the book says, sometimes you have to be bad to be good. You will be cheering this little guy on and very delighted with the outcome.

The illustrations are delightful and the story is interesting to appeal to children and the adults reading to him. I know I will read this book over and over to my grandson. He loves dogs and enjoyed the story and the pictures.

I received a hard cover edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.