About the Holiday
Whether you’re still in the midst of winter or spring is knocking on the door, dog owners know that one part – maybe the best part – of their day will be spent taking their beloved pooches for a walk. Today’s holiday celebrates this special time people share with their pets and encourages them to make today’s walk extra fun by taking a new route or rewarding your pup with a few extra treats or minutes of playtime.
Thanks to Floris Books for sharing a copy of The Dog Walk with me for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.
The Dog Walk
By Sven Nordqvist
Anyone who spends time outside with their pet knows that you start to see the yard, neighborhood, and perhaps even the world in a different way. Small details of nature, hidden creatures or objects, odors and sounds wafting on the breeze, and people passing by all become new when seen through the eyes of an animal. In his wildly whimsical The Dog Walk, Sven Nordqvist takes readers on a wordless meandering out of the city and into fantastical worlds where anything is possible.
Copyright Sven Nordqvist, 2021, courtesy of Floris Books.
The frame for this adventure is the titular dog walk, in which a child takes their grandmother’s shaggy pet for a jaunt, setting up dazzling discovery as well as an amusing search-and-find puzzle. Following along on this journey, kids and adults are treated to Nordqvist’s endlessly delightful creativity that plays with perspective and size, the expected and the extraordinary and invites readers to look, look again, and ponder.
As the train leaves the station, traversing a bridge that elevates it high above rolling hills and the vast tree houses residents call home as well as a derelict stone castle that now serves as the trunk of a tree, a giant chess board, and giggle-inducing images of a man rowing a boat with a giraffe as passenger (cargo that requires the drawbridge to be raised and traffic to back up) and a bull sitting on the river’s bank and enjoying a tuft of grass like a person picnicking while his bovine friends chomp grass the regular way.
Copyright Sven Nordqvist, 2021, courtesy of Floris Books.
The train is headed for a maze of tracks that twist their way through a castle that houses no fewer than five kings and boasts a turret-top pool. The next stop is a sculpture and animal park, where readers will want to stop and join the cleverly posed statues that tour the gravel paths via goat-pulled platforms and a variety of familiar and fanciful creatures welcome them.
Continuing on, take in the orchestra that’s playing in the bandshell while the appreciative audience enjoys pastries, ice cream, and tea served by a walking teapot and creamer. Further on, readers come to a seaside vista, where small islands of thatched buildings set sail. And if there’s no wind to power them, that’s okay because each island has its own windmill. On shore, a giant couple sit enjoying the sun; the woman reads under a parasol, while the man, his painting supplies at hand, carefully recreates the tiny kindergarten-drawing island. Other islands dotting the inlet are in the shape of hats, while the harbor’s lighthouse is a burning candle atop a top hat.
Copyright Sven Nordqvist, 2021, courtesy of Floris Books.
After a bite of lunch, the child is literally dragged into an antiques store – breathtaking in its intricacies – when the pooch chases a cat inside. This showstopper of a two-page spread juxtaposes items from homes of yesteryear with those of today with, of course, surreal and inventive additions to capture readers’ attention and imagination. From here, the walk takes the child into more bucolic scenery, where the dog gets to frolic with other animals while blueberries are picked from tall trees by a well-steered dragonfly.
Then dodging spitballs through a field, the two come to a sleepy castle where Escher-like stairways lead to the exit and a game of croquet – or is it billards? It’s nearly time to get back home, but first the dog becomes distracted in a community of cats. But nothing – not even a bicyclist balancing on a huge orange; a unicyclist juggling lit torches, an ax, a knife, and a toaster; or a hot dog big enough to fee four – can arrest the dog’s attention when it sees… Grandma!
Copyright Sven Nordqvist, 2021, courtesy of Floris Books.
Beyond lingering over Sven Nordqvist’s hilarious, ingenious, and unbelievably detailed drawings, The Dog Walk offers unending opportunities to expand on and engage with every page. Whether embraced in a classroom or at home, every page provides plenty of inspiration for kids to create their own stories, artwork, inventions, games, and so much more based on the images. Searching for repeated themes, objects, and creatures will also keep kids happily occupied.
A book for sharing or enjoying individually that will spark laughs, awe, inspiration, and fun conversations, The Dog Walk would make a treasured gift and is a highly rewarding and recommended addition to home, school and public library collections.
Ages 3 and up
Floris Books, 2021 | ISBN 978-1782507437
National Dog Walking Day Activities
I Love Dogs! Word Search Puzzle
If you love dogs, you’ll have fun discovering the names of eighteen dog breeds in this printable word search puzzle!
I Love Dogs! Word Search Puzzle | I Love Dogs! Word Search Solution
Peppy Puppies Match Up Puzzle
Each of the puppies has a friend. Can you match them up based on one trait? There may be multiple right answers! Why do you think the dogs you chose go together in this printable puzzle?
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
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Picture Book Review
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