Review: HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF DOG PADDLING?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 28, 2013
Dog paddling has nothing to do with spanking. It means dogs are natural swimmers: all dogs. Humans pattern one of the way they swim after the way dogs swim.And some little child who reads your book is going to run to their parents and say," What's wrong with this dog? My dog swims just fine!"Couldn't you say the water was deeper than Blue was accustomed to? Or maybe that Blue had never been swimming before and didn't know what to expect?Kids are pretty smart you know. The people next door have a pond. When I play ball with my dogs, the Lab across the street, Sam, always comes to play, too. When he gets hot he goes next door for a dip, shakes off and comes back. We take treat breaks and water breaks, too, but Sam loves to cool off on his own with a private swim.When Sam's away, Molly and Abby just chew on the tennis balls and wait for him. They like chewing as much as they like chasing.But I love the element of magic as I'm sure children will, too. The idea of talking fish is brilliant.You had Blue meet a female seahorse-why not a male with a pouch full of young ones? Some children don't know the female lays eggs in the male's pouch. Wouldn't a picture of tiny seahorses making a wreath around Blue's face have made a glorious picture?I'm astounded that you've discovered a way to enlarge the pictures!! I've complained to more than one author that the maps or charts in their books were illegible. I simply ignored small pictures-at least the words were there. Congrats on your process!But please, do something about Blue's 'excuse'. Dogs are on their legs constantly. There's no reason for those legs to be too weak to swim.