One of my very favorite authors is Lisa Campbell Ernst! Several of her books could compete for the title of “My Favorite Children’s Picture Book”. She writes great stories that are funny, sweet, full of adventure, and her illustrations are so engaging.
I ALWAYS read Duke the Dairy Delight Dog to my students sometime during the first part of the year. Then I make sure I have a basket of more Lisa Campbell Ernst books checked out because they always want to read more!
Last year I chose to use this book during our Reader’s Workshop character unit. I used this book as my mentor text to accompany a really cute character project my students complete. After reading the book, we discuss the character “Darla”, her personality traits, how she changes during the course of the story, the motivation for her actions, etc. Then I use “Darla” to create my example. I have loads of books pulled with strong characters in them and each student gets a book, reads, and then completes a character project based on the character in his or her book. They are so fun! (And make a great display!)
Okay- more about Duke…
Duke is a traveling dog that has always been on his own. He happens upon Darla’s Dairy Delight (an ice cream shop), and goes ga-ga over the place. Duke decides this is the place for him and he wants to stay forever.
Darla, being the Queen of Clean, is not too fond of the idea of a dirty dog in her shop. Darla tries to get Duke to leave, but no such luck.
Duke tries many different tactics to get in that ice cream shop, but Darla stops him every time.
Darla shooing Duke with a broom…
Duke plotting his next move…
Uh, oh! Duke and Darla tangled up with the Kleen-Rite 3-in-1 Scrubber-Buffer-Waxer machine…
I really wish I could show you the end, but I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you- it is too precious.
And your kids will love it!
Here are a few more of my Lisa Campbell Ernst faves…
Since Duke the Dairy Delight Dog is a book about a dog, I couldn’t resist the chance to show a picture of my four dogs. Here are my babies!
2 Responses
Just saw your comment on Mrs. Jump's blog about being a new blogger, so I HAD to stop by! Love your blog design; the bright colors are fabulous, and Megan is the top of my list for when I finally decide to bite the bullet and let a professional design my blog:) She did such an amazing job with yours!
Lisa Campbell Ernst is also one of my favorite authors! I love sharing her Red Riding Hood at the start of the year (we do a little fairy tale/folk tale unit that ties into color words), but I have never seen "Duke"! Thanks for introducing me:)
Please stop by my blog for a chance to win a couple of great kid-lit books to add to your collection! Enjoy your week!
SweetSchoolMoments
Megan designed my blog too – she's awesome!
This is a new book for me – thanks for writing about it! I definitely need to check it out.
~Scarlett at Speech Is Sweet