My Crazy Dog: My Narrative Essay

by Darcy Pattison, Ewa O'Neill (Illustrator)

Overview

A hectic chase inspires Dennis’s amazing narrative essay.

A romp with his best friend, a Bernese Mountain Dog named Clark Kent, inspires Dennis to write a narrative essay. Recently, Mom asked Dennis to put a leash on Clark Kent so they could take the dog to the veterinarian for shots. Clark gave them all a merry chase! There’s lots of action to love here.

In this third installment of the The Read and Write Series, children's book author and writing teacher, Darcy Pattison, entertains kids while also teaching them how-to-write. This book packages a complete narrative essay lesson plan into an engaging story about a boy and his dog. Adding sensory details is demonstrated on each page and on the mentor text essay. Students are reminded to add transition words and use great verbs. Who would know that writing essays could be so simple and fun?

This story has multiple levels. Young kids will revel in the exciting story of chasing a dog around the house. Elementary students will rejoice that learning essay writing is so much fun. And teachers will find this the easiest writing lesson they’ve ever done—and the most effective. Buy this amazing story to fascinate a kid (and teach them something in the process).

THE READ AND WRITE SERIES

• I Want a Dog: My Opinion Essay, Book 1
• I Want a Cat: My Opinion Essay, Book 2
• My Crazy Dog: My Narrative Essay, Book 3
• My Dirty Dog: My Informative Essay, Book 4 (forthcoming)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629440521
Publisher:	Mims House
Publication date:	08/14/2015
Series:	Read and Write , #3
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	1,096,778
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Published in nine languages, children's book author and writing teacher DARCY PATTISON has been published with Harcourt, Philomel/Penguin, Harpercollins, Arbordale, and Mims House. Her books received recognition for excellence with starred reviews in Kirkus, BCCB and PW. Twice her books have been honored as National Science Teacher's Association Outstanding Science Trade books. The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt) received an Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature Honor Book award, was named a Notable Book in Language Arts, and has been reprinted in a Houghton Mifflin textbook.

Ewa O'Neill (ewaoneill.com) live in England with her husband and twin sons.

Editorial Reviews

11/01/2015
Gr 2–4—This title opens with Mrs. Shirky giving her class the assignment to write a narrative essay. One of her students decides to write about his dog. The boy's mischievous pup, Clark Kent, does not want to get his shots. In an effort to escape, he has many missteps including waking the baby, running outside, knocking over a bird feeder, jumping in a fish pond, and hiding under the porch. This book is good for visual learners, since it starts with big pictures and limited text. Illustrations are fun and feature thought and speech bubbles. A brightly colored list of see, hear, smell, taste, and feel words capture the mood of each scene. Tips about writing the narrative essay follow the sample essay and include choosing a topic, dialogue, introduction, and conclusion. The book ends with the dog asleep on the chair. VERDICT A good choice to help visual learners write narrative essays.—Robin Sofge, Alexandria Library, VA

School Library Journal

"VERDICT: A good choice to help the visual learners write narrative essays." School Library Journal Review (November 2015)- Robin Sofge, Alexandria Library, VA

• ". . .breezy and engaging introduction to genre writing."
• "The model essay can be used across multiple genres (informational and narrative nonfiction in addition to opinion)."
• ". . .useful for teachers showing early elementary students the relevancy, power, and importance of effective writing." -Booklist 6/17/15

SLJ Review of Books 1 and 2 of The Read and Write Series: ". . .fill(s) a niche for teachers. . ." (5/1/15)

PRAISE for I WANT A DOG, FROM DOG EXPERTS
"Darcy Pattison does a remarkable job on several fronts with her wonderful new book I Want A Dog: My Opinion Essay. She introduces the value of the written text at an early age to children. This cannot be emphasized enough in our early classrooms. With this comes an important lesson regarding the responsibility of owning and caring for a dog. As President of the Labrador Retriever Club representing the breed with the largest number of dogs I know how imperative responsible dog ownership is and Darcy does a wonderful job instilling this at an early age. This is a remarkable children's book that has a lesson."
-Fred Kampo, President of the Labrador Retriever Club

PRAISE for I WANT A DOG, FROM SCIENCE EDUCATOR
"I find these books to be the perfect resource when teaching persuasive writing and opinion essay. Students are immediately interested in the engaging story, much more so than when introduced to this style of writing using an English text. The prompts included make for an excellent teacher resource and can be used an extension to the text, adding depth to the learning. " Peggy Carlisle, NBCT, Director, NSTA Preschool/Elementary Division, President-Elect Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees, NSTA.

From the Publisher