Some Dogs Do

Some Dogs Do by Jez Alborough

            Picture Book—PreK-2

            Rating: 4 Stars

            Summary: Sid the dog starts flying one day on his way to school, but nobody believes him and says he is making it up. Feeling sad and dejected, he returns home, only to find that his parents can fly too, and he was right all along!

            I picked up Some Dogs Do because I really enjoyed other books by Alborough, including Hug and Where’s My Teddy? While I didn’t find this story to be quite as successful as those, Some Dogs Do still has many qualities that had me smiling through the pages and relating to the main character on an emotional level. Sid goes through a roller coaster of emotions, first feeling elated that he flies to school, and then experiences rejection and is distraught because nobody believes him. I feel bad for the poor guy! Acknowledgement from your peers means everything to young kids, and Sid was seeking an enthused reaction so that he could share in the excitement with his friends and classmates. However, even his teacher tells him that he is wrong—dogs don’t fly. Nothing squashes joy like the rejection of peers, and I know that I experienced this growing up as well. Sid’s gloomy expression seeps off of the page through the illustrations, and I felt a sense of distress for him as he sulked back home, unable to recover the delight that sent him off the ground in the first place. Ultimately, Sid’s family shares with him the truth that they can fly, and the ending serves as a great reminder that it is ok to believe in the seemingly impossible.

            While I enjoyed the story and especially loved the bright illustrations, I would have some concerns in sharing this story with my students. I think I would preface a reading of this book with a discussion on how to distinguish between what is real and what is make-believe. Depending on the age of my students, I think this would be necessary because the storyline can become confusing if they were to take its message literally and believe that dogs can really fly. After a reading of the book, it would then be natural to talk about issues relevant to my students that others might find silly or improbable, such as being able to spell a difficult word or shoot a three-pointer in basketball. This discussion can be inspired by Sid’s experience to teach us that with positive thinking, we can prove others wrong and succeed at what might seem impossible. This is a theme that is all too important for kids to understand and believe.