Skippy Jon Jones in the dog house

Skippy Jon Jones-In the Dog House

Written and Illustrated by Judy Schachner

Dutton Children’s Books, 2006

31 pages

Picture Book

I chose this book because it is a very popular series with the children and because I found a kitten that looks just like Skippy Jon Jones.  This book is about a cute, little, big eared kitten named Skippy Jon Jones.  Throughout the series he gets himself into all kinds of mischief.  In this book Skippy decides that he is going to be a dog. 

More specifically, he is going to be a Chihuahua.  Skippy uses his imagination to have a whole herd of these little dogs ‘visit’.   Skippy is playing in his closet and pretending to have an adventure with his Chihuahua friends. 

          The illustrations in this book are done with acrylics, pen and ink.  They are drawn onto Aquarelle Arches watercolor paper.  The different modes of drawing are used to give the pictures texture.  There is not really any negative space on the pages except when the author is expressing movement.  The colors of Skippy are very cool but the Chihuahuas are very warm in color.  The art is beautiful in this book series.

          If I were going to use this book in a classroom I would use it for a lesson about narrative writing.  I would encourage the students to use their imagination and write about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  This book contains a lot of good vocabulary words.  I might use this book to explore or introduce some words to the students.  This book has no awards at this time.