Jon & Mac consider: a big dog party in a tree, teaching kids to read, surrealism, the "jerk bucket," a little party in a field in Canada, the hidden structure of a seemingly chaotic book, Shakespeare
Love so much about this book. But as long as we are looking this closely— why are there two (presumably female) poodles in the bed at night that are then are absent in the morning and also absent from the entire dog race and dog party in the tree? Why put them there at all only to disappear them? It's an odd choice.
Yep!! I was just about to slip in here and start talking about how the (very few) female dogs are portrayed in this book! This article is so great. So many layers to all of this
I LOVE this book, but it has always annoyed me that she is vying SO hard for his approval and then has to go WAY over the top (in a hat she probably would never actually wear) to "get the guy." I want her to have a witty comeback about his sad, typical hat and flee the scene by stealing his car and driving into the sunset ALONE, yelling "Good-by!" Maybe if a woman wrote this book, that would be the ending.
Thanks for including a beginning reader in your picture book conversations! I'm super interested in the science of reading practices that focus on NOT using illustrations as cues for reading, and how the terribly boring leveled readers used in classrooms have a place in literacy development, AND how critically we need books like Go, Dog, Go! to be included in student experiences in order to foster reading motivation and joy.
As always, a delight to eavesdrop. I will say, I always assumed the "cap doffing" dog on the Ferris Wheel had just caught that hat? (Since some of the dogs at the top are losing the ones they were wearing?) So that spread, for me, is a (literal) cycle of losing and getting one's hat back. ;) If so, it's a rich theme, as this group well knows.
I’ve had a head cannon about the two spreads between pages 48-51 for ages! I always thought the one dog that doesn’t wake up on pages 50-51 was the dog that couldn’t sleep on the previous spread. He’s still sleeping because he was up most of the night! Thanks for a great convo as always!
I just read this to Danny and thought it was kind of blah. Appalled to realize I had read a board book version where they must have cut more than half out completely - no maze, no ferris wheel, no final big hat, no final goodbye. Who would do such a thing! I feel queasy thinking about it!
This is a masterclass. I wanted to say a lot of things along the way, but now all I can think is that you really, actually, truly write these all over texts?? You are maniacs, just like the feather-stealing dog.
I’ve never come across this book before - I grew up in London, with all the bowler hats and canes - in the 1980s. I’m not surprised it stuck with you both, what a book! What I want to know is: how old were you both when you were reading it/first read it? And would you have read it at school or be set it as homework?
I loved how imprinted this book was for you guys! I can feel the Proustian feelings!!
As always, your hilarious in-depth, close-reads makes me think and rethink. Truthfully, back in the day I could read Go, Dog, Go! to and with our kids while thinking about something else. Here comes the “I should’ve” thought… there’s more to this book than meets the ear.
Love all of this and the comments about the ending because it feels like a tragedy for her to go off into the sunset with that dude. Also I remember as a kid having a feeling after the maze spread that maybe the dogs never left the maze mentally because a lot of them have a similar facial expression throughout the book (until the party, of course). And I thought the green dog in the car with the little dog driving was super carsick and everyone could tell.
I love Go Dog Go! I learned to read with Dick and Jane (actually not, I read encyclopedias before I went to school, but we had Dick and Jane in school). My brother had Go Dog Go. It was the first book he ever read by himself. He would read it to anyone at the drop of a hat. And he always yelled, "Go around again!" as if he were the dog in the bucket. I'm so glad you like Go Dog Go. Sorry about the lack of punctuation there.
Thank you for discussing one of my very favorite books. It was fun to hear the observations and inferences you took away from the book, which didn’t always match up to mine!
This is putting me in mind of Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, an enduring favorite for me that I feel like has a lot of the same appeal, although with a LOT more happening on each page. I think the Provensens’ Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm has some of the same vibes, although in a much more real-world setting. (That’s the book that I read so much it fell to pieces when I was a kid, and I’m pretty sure in my adult life, I’ve just been moving more and more toward creating my own Maple Hill Farm.) In both of these, it’s this thing where the images are suggesting stories that go way beyond the words on the page, and it’s so much fun to contemplate that, as a child and as an adult, although children are so much more likely to actually take the time to consider those stories.
Also I feel like beginning readers can be not like picture books, but the best, most enduring and appealing ones are like picture books.
I must share this classic feminist response (complimentary) to this excellent conversation: https://theuglyvolvo.com/an-open-letter-to-the-female-hat-wearing-dog-from-go-dog-go/
Love so much about this book. But as long as we are looking this closely— why are there two (presumably female) poodles in the bed at night that are then are absent in the morning and also absent from the entire dog race and dog party in the tree? Why put them there at all only to disappear them? It's an odd choice.
Yep!! I was just about to slip in here and start talking about how the (very few) female dogs are portrayed in this book! This article is so great. So many layers to all of this
I came on here to post this. It is epic!
I love this!
I LOVE this book, but it has always annoyed me that she is vying SO hard for his approval and then has to go WAY over the top (in a hat she probably would never actually wear) to "get the guy." I want her to have a witty comeback about his sad, typical hat and flee the scene by stealing his car and driving into the sunset ALONE, yelling "Good-by!" Maybe if a woman wrote this book, that would be the ending.
Thanks for including a beginning reader in your picture book conversations! I'm super interested in the science of reading practices that focus on NOT using illustrations as cues for reading, and how the terribly boring leveled readers used in classrooms have a place in literacy development, AND how critically we need books like Go, Dog, Go! to be included in student experiences in order to foster reading motivation and joy.
As always, a delight to eavesdrop. I will say, I always assumed the "cap doffing" dog on the Ferris Wheel had just caught that hat? (Since some of the dogs at the top are losing the ones they were wearing?) So that spread, for me, is a (literal) cycle of losing and getting one's hat back. ;) If so, it's a rich theme, as this group well knows.
I’ve had a head cannon about the two spreads between pages 48-51 for ages! I always thought the one dog that doesn’t wake up on pages 50-51 was the dog that couldn’t sleep on the previous spread. He’s still sleeping because he was up most of the night! Thanks for a great convo as always!
I always thought so too, and he had just moved over to the middle of the bed to finish his snooze! I had the story all worked out.
Thanks for sharing your analysis—it’s been so enlightening.
It made me think of Hitchcock’s quote: “You must show emotion and let the audience figure out what it's about.”
I just read this to Danny and thought it was kind of blah. Appalled to realize I had read a board book version where they must have cut more than half out completely - no maze, no ferris wheel, no final big hat, no final goodbye. Who would do such a thing! I feel queasy thinking about it!
I also just had this revelation!
This is a masterclass. I wanted to say a lot of things along the way, but now all I can think is that you really, actually, truly write these all over texts?? You are maniacs, just like the feather-stealing dog.
This was absolutely brilliant--thank you for this insightful, smart, and hilarious analysis.
And YES PLEASE to a Frog and Toad post. My forever favorite pair!
Thanks again, Jon and Mac, for treating picture book analysis with such respect and humor! I learn so much every time I read these 👏🏼
I’ve never come across this book before - I grew up in London, with all the bowler hats and canes - in the 1980s. I’m not surprised it stuck with you both, what a book! What I want to know is: how old were you both when you were reading it/first read it? And would you have read it at school or be set it as homework?
I loved how imprinted this book was for you guys! I can feel the Proustian feelings!!
As always, your hilarious in-depth, close-reads makes me think and rethink. Truthfully, back in the day I could read Go, Dog, Go! to and with our kids while thinking about something else. Here comes the “I should’ve” thought… there’s more to this book than meets the ear.
Love all of this and the comments about the ending because it feels like a tragedy for her to go off into the sunset with that dude. Also I remember as a kid having a feeling after the maze spread that maybe the dogs never left the maze mentally because a lot of them have a similar facial expression throughout the book (until the party, of course). And I thought the green dog in the car with the little dog driving was super carsick and everyone could tell.
I love Go Dog Go! I learned to read with Dick and Jane (actually not, I read encyclopedias before I went to school, but we had Dick and Jane in school). My brother had Go Dog Go. It was the first book he ever read by himself. He would read it to anyone at the drop of a hat. And he always yelled, "Go around again!" as if he were the dog in the bucket. I'm so glad you like Go Dog Go. Sorry about the lack of punctuation there.
Thank you for discussing one of my very favorite books. It was fun to hear the observations and inferences you took away from the book, which didn’t always match up to mine!
This is putting me in mind of Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, an enduring favorite for me that I feel like has a lot of the same appeal, although with a LOT more happening on each page. I think the Provensens’ Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm has some of the same vibes, although in a much more real-world setting. (That’s the book that I read so much it fell to pieces when I was a kid, and I’m pretty sure in my adult life, I’ve just been moving more and more toward creating my own Maple Hill Farm.) In both of these, it’s this thing where the images are suggesting stories that go way beyond the words on the page, and it’s so much fun to contemplate that, as a child and as an adult, although children are so much more likely to actually take the time to consider those stories.
Also I feel like beginning readers can be not like picture books, but the best, most enduring and appealing ones are like picture books.