The Dog Days of February

We were on a trend today -- dog books!

We read, with growing attention and anxiety, the final 5 chapters of Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians -- a MUCH better telling than the Disney movies that tried to imitate it. Cruella deVil and her furrier husband (who is just as bad, but weak to boot) are REALLY bad! There's a scene where Cruella is reveling because a village bakery is on fire andshe cheers each time the flmaes crackle and rise! A cool justice comes to Crueela and her husband, including her half-black/half-white-hair turnign a bilious green and white! But all comes out fine and the story ends with the happy reunion of Pongo, Missis, Perdita and her dog-husband, and the 97 puppies with the Dearlys and the Nannies.....a wonderful and heartfelt cheer went up from the littles (and the older two also!) as all the "good guys" were reunited!

Clamoring for more -- we went ahead and watched the classic Disney version -- which is not too bad (especially in light of the other versions that came later!). We enjoyed discussing the diferences and similarities. Hands-down, the vote was unanimous for the book as being a better story.

We then returned to our Iditarod study by reading Gloria Whelan's Silver, a great easy-reader book about a 9-year-old girl and her sled dog puppy. It's an easy read but not "twaddly" -- if you know what I mean! A great addition to our Iditarod unit.