I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute beginning reader. The illustrations are cute and the text is simple and geared for those learning to read.

Cute book for young readers. Colurful and bright illustrations.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

A colorful, short picture book. The brief plot: a little girl imagines what having a dog would involve. She would take the dog for a walk. The dog would love to run and run. The little girl would get tired of running and running (so maybe she wouldn't like a dog). Other dog-activity scenarios bring her to the same conclusion. So, maybe she would like a cat. Cute, but we'll pass on this one.

My son loves dogs and therefore loves this book. He loves the illustrations. The simplicity of the writing allows him to easily read it himself. Very cute!

The book If I had a Dog is great for a little one - or for a child that is learning how to read. The story is simple: the girl wants a dog, discovers the things that having a dog entails, and then decides she doesn't want a dog. However, the words a large, the pictures are helpful, and a 4-year-old learning to read, for example, would love this book.

This book tells a story using 32 words paired with cute, colourful illustrations. In this story, the little girl imagines what she and a pet dog would do together. They would walk, run, play etc. I thought the humorous twist at the end of the book was cute. This is an engaging story for beginning readers with high frequency words repeated throughout. As another reviewer pointed out, the word drip was used when the dog splashed water on the little girl. I immediately wondered why the word splash was not used. The illustrations are simple, yet well done and can be used to help the reader decipher the text. There is a note for parents and caregivers at the front of the book to help them with using this book with their child. As part of the Reading Stars series, If I Had a Dog is designed for beginning readers to promote confidence in reading skills. New readers will feel pride in their ability to read and understand this story. A great book for a family library or a primary classroom. The publisher, Xist Publishing, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions are my own.

I have a girl who loves animals. She was praying since she was able to talk for a dog. We have had a dog for a year and this book made her smile. I recommend it for small children who are starting to read. I liked that it has the words they were able to read in the back of it. If you are a homeschooling parent this small book may be the right fit for you if they are just starting to read.

This story is of a little girl who either wants a dog or doesn’t, mainly changing her mind because she likes to rest and not get slobbered all over.
The intro notes that this isn’t so much a book to be enjoyed for its story as much as to help learning to read. At the end is a list of words featured in the book, which the child now knows how to read.
The illustrations are done in a throwback style that at times is too cute, if that’s possible. You get that sense right from the little girl on the cover.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

“If I had a Dog” is a sweet book with precious illustrations that teaches kids to read. With 32 unique words, the text uses the word “dog” as a theme, to encourage their interest. It also incorporates humor to keep things engaging for the youngest readers. 5/5

Pub Date 01 Jun 2018

Thanks to Xist Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#IfIHadADog #NetGalley

As part of the Reading Stars series, If I Had a Dog is designed for beginning readers to promote confidence in reading skills. The book tells a story using a limited vocabulary paired with delightful and colorful illustrations based on the principle that repetition of words will lead to mastery.

In this story, the narrator imagines what she and a pet dog would do together: walk, run, play, drink water, and more. At the end, there is a clever and humorous twist.

This books meets the goals of having an engaging story with words that a beginning reader can learn and use, and the illustrations are well-done.

On a side note, I was a little baffled that one of the less than fifty unique words in the story was “drip.” It seems that word won’t likely be encountered by a beginning reader, and I wondered why the author didn’t use “splash” instead.

Personally, I was a little disappointed about the message the book promotes regarding dog ownership.

This book is part of a series for very beginning readers. The number of words is limited and those words are repeated within the text to offer reinforcement for young learners. New readers will feel pride in their ability to read and understand this story. If I Had a Dog is a written with a sense of humor that children will appreciate. Definitely recommended for the target audience!