Dogs Don’t Brush Their Teeth by Diane deGroat and Shelley Rotner is the perfect beginning reader book. The text on each page is simple: “Dogs do” or “Dogs don’t”. The pictures are photos that have been digitally manipulated to show what dogs do (like howl at the moon) and what dogs don’t do (like play an electric guitar in a rock band). Your little ones will be howling with laughter over the funny photos, and with the simple words, they’ll be successful readers the first time they pick the book up.

We extended this book in two different ways. With our younger listeners, we had them decorate dog masks and put them on. Then we asked them to show us with their bodies what a dog can do (like nudge a ball on the floor) and what a dog can’t do (like toss and catch the ball in their hands). For a writing activity, students glued die-cuts of dogs and other objects and wrote or dictated sentences in a simple chart to show “Dogs Do” and “Dogs Don’t”.  Nature Smart animal lovers and your Body Smart movers-and-shakers will love this book!