Cinderella - With Dogs!

Written by Linda Bailey, Illustrated by Freya Hartas

This month’s book is Cinderella-With Dogs which was written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Freya Hartas. It is our May book for children born in 2019, and this book really surprised me with how funny it is. Eleanor and I giggled quite a bit while reading it!

I think this book is perfect for children in our older age groups because they are starting to get to the age where they pick up on things being a little off and kind of silly. Eleanor loves all princesses, so we are VERY familiar with the Cinderella story. She was picking out all of the differences between Disney’s Cinderella and Cinderella-With Dogs! If your child knows the story, this would be a wonderful activity for you to do with them. The differences in Cinderella’s outfit, her fairyDOGmother, and her transportation to the ball. I love books like this for this age group, because you can really see your child taking in the book and comprehending it. 

Eleanor and I really enjoyed pointing out each of the animals in the story that were doing something they shouldn't be. Towards the beginning of the book, there's a cat pushing a vase off the table. There's dirty paw prints all over the story. There's even a cat playing the piano! Haha! Have your child find all the silly animals doing things they shouldn't be doing throughout the story. 

When you get to the page spread where Cinderella is chasing squirrels, try having your child count all of the trees. And when you get to the page where she gets her dress for the ball, have your child count the paw prints on her dress. These are bigger numbers for your older child, and even though they may have their numbers down, practice is always a good thing. 

I think this would be an excellent time to ask your child about what you read when you are done reading the book. Talk about it. See what part of it they liked, if they disliked any part of it. Ask them to give you a recap of the story. They may not quite be to the point of doing this fully, which is totally okay, but it's good to work on this skill, as it's a milestone for five year olds. 

I hope your family enjoys this read as much as we did! Happy summer and happy reading, friends!!