This is a quick, humorous book which starts out a quite differently than it ends. It starts with a boy narrator talking about his stick drawings. His art teacher doesn't like his drawings and his English teacher doesn't like his writing. He makes it perfectly clear that he is going to offend both teachers with his story, and you, as the reader, better be ok with that.

Then we shift to the story itself which is about Stick Dog and his four dog friends. One day they get a whiff of hamburger in the air and decide to sniff it out and steal some burgers. Most of the story is about the dogs trying to figure out a plan for how they are going to get the burgers.

It's cute and funny. Kids will love it. I just wish the story hadn't ended so abruptly. It was glaringly noticeable. The right way to end the story would have been to switch back to the boy narrator who wrote the story and drew the pictures. Still highly recommend, especially for reluctant readers. ( )

Super cute, age and reading level perfect for Jackson. He's excited that there are more! ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 2-5

Plot Summary: Stick Dog lives on the streets and scrounges around for food, so when he smells tasty burgers cooking nearby, it is really important to him to eat them. He rounds up his friends but as they make their way over they get distracted by a squirrel. Once they arrive to the picnic, they see the humans grilling and brainstorm a way to get the burgers without getting caught. Each dog has it's own idea. Will they succeed?

Setting: "between the big city and the forest"

Characters:
Stick Dog - lives on the street
Poo-Poo - poodle
Stripes - Dalmatian
Karen - dachshund
Mutt - mutt

Recurring Themes: friendship, distraction, food

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: Just a few months after I read this book, I couldn't remember a single thing about it until I opened it up. However, when I read it I enjoyed it. It was a fast read with one picture on each page, large type, and space between each line. Narrator talks to the reader.

Genre: Fantasy - talking/thinking dogs

Pacing: Fast; pictures and large font and space between each line
Characters:
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

I enjoyed reading this 1st book in the series though it needs to warm up to me first. The camaraderie and the funny exchange of conversation between the pack of Stick Dog is fun to read. I'm looking forward on reading the rest of the succeeding published books in this series. ( )

I would recommend this book to kids ages 10--13. It is a chapter book, but not quite advanced enough for young adults.