Elementary school-age kids want to read. Girls actively want to read and get it done, whereas boys want to read as long as their friends don’t catch them and the book has that factor. That factor can vary to the water cooler book of the playground to being laden with fart jokes (which also puts it in that first category), or maybe it’s just really funny for those ages. The secret sauce towards getting guys to read is more challenging than it is to get girls to open a book. Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories is the sort of early reader graphic novel that speaks to younger ages. Pre-k kids through middle school who are looking for a graphic novel that has multiple, short stories in it will grin and enjoy it. It’s loaded with anthropomorphic animals who live in a coast town where everything is chill.
Willow and Mia are best friends. They’re dogs who go to school, do their chores, paint, listen to music and goof around. Mia’s crush is Jesse, who likes skateboarding and looking cool. Willow doesn’t like Jesse, but is trying to be supportive of her crush. Mia and Willow’s family are ancillary characters who float in and out of the story. Mia is adopted, but that’s not a major part of the story. Willow’s parents appear a couple of times and are weird and hold him accountable, just like your parents.
There’s one teacher throughout the portions of the stories that takes place in school. Ms. Snake only appears a couple of times, but provides a realistic side quest, since young readers know a teacher in their life. She adds comic relief being that she’s a snake and pronounces all of her ‘s’ sounds in a slow, repetitive manner.
Graphic novels are an excellent way for elementary-aged readers to learn to love to read. It’s somewhere in elementary school where students stop learning to read, and start reading to learn. However, there aren’t many early-elementary graphic novels for ages four through eight year olds. Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories fills that niche. It’s got enough of a loose, friendship-adventure feel to it that young audiences can relate to it without it feeling education or a chore to read. The illustrations make reading the graphic novel fun.
Fun is that characteristic that some elementary kids have while reading a good book. Few middle school students have and a couple of high school students have it, but it is. Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories succeeds for young readers because of the “Other Stories” aspect of the book. If the graphic novel was simply about a girl and her crush its audience would be limited, and almost entirely girl readers. Because other topics are broached, like friendship, hobbies, elementary school drama and birthday parties, it opens up the graphic novel to those reluctant readers. Dog Days doesn’t open the funnel up as wide as it does with potty humor themed graphic novels, but it does give them a choice.
The cover shows Mia peddling a bike with Willow on the handlebars. Willow looks nervous and resembles Albert Du Bois from Phineas and Pherb in the snout/face. Mia is carefree as the two are going down a hill on the island, or savannah climate where they live.
There’s enough ‘real’ life in the book to make kids learn something, without it being preachy. It’s not a story about lessons, but the kids in the graphic novel do go through life instances that are challenging. These instances, like birthday party guilt or not wanting to share your friend’s attention are normal things that most elementary ages go through and aren’t sure how to wrangle. Dog Days entertain readers via real life things that happen to a pair of anthropomorphic dogs. The environment they live in is just odd enough to be unique, but is also familiar enough to be next door; and for some young readers who want to relax with a good book it’ll be just the ticket.
Dog Days: The Crush and Other Stories is by Claudia Boldt and available on Hippo Park, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers.
There are affiliate links in this post.
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube