REVIEW: Chewy Louie

Schneider, H. (2000). Chewy Louie. Flagstaff, AZ: Rising Moon.

0873587650

A young boy and his family get a new puppy. They decide to name him Chewy Louie because he is always hungry.

I really like the illustrations of Chewy Louie and the way that almost every illustrations shows him wagging his tail in a most ADORABLE fashion. Look Left!

See?

Cute!

And Mr. Chewy Louie is lucky to have such an adorable wagging tail, cause his facial features look crazed throughout the entire book. He also gets into trouble time after time and on a grander scale all because of his hunger.

The illustrations are necessary to understand the complete story the text is attempting to share, encouraging visual literacy. The art is well-crafted and are done in a style similar to how many children draw, so it may inspire kids to pick up their own crayons.

This story is told from the boy's point of view. His voice feels authentic, especially when he is worried that his parents would send Louie away for being so bad.

Activities:

This book could be used to show the difficulties and expenses of adopting a puppy as well as important care techniques (such as taking the new dog to the vet when needed--many books overlook that aspect).

Chewy Louie would be excellent to share how dogs grow and change. At the same time, if a parent or teacher wanted to go the allegory route, this book could be used to explain to a child that a baby brother or sister will, with time, become more fun to play with.

Quotes of Note:

"One day my father brought home a little black puppy.

He was very cute and always hungry.

We called him Chewy Louie."

"Louie ate my trains before they reached the station.

Then he ate the station."

"The trainer arrived the next day and immediately went to work.

And so did Louie.

Then my father had to hire another trainer."

As a side note, tomorrow is Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon.  If you don't have plans yet, consider participating...or turn your plans into a read-a-thon party.  As we spend the day reading, checking-in and encouraging one another we'll read some fun books, laugh and perhaps even cry from sleep deprivation.