Bailey by Henry Bliss

Bailey by Harry Bliss
Bailey by Harry Bliss

today’s children storybook summary is

Bailey

By Harry Bliss

Storyline: This book is about a school day in the live of Bailey, the dog. At the first glimpse it may seem boring, a common place, or just another school day. But it’s not. For the simple reason that Bailey is a dog, and, unlike humans, dogs don’t go to school, as far as we know.

An exception to the rule above is Bailey, a dog of unnamed breed, with brown-spotted yellow fur and floppy ears. You may think that he goes to a school for dogs, perhaps a training one. But no, he goes to an ordinary school where there are only school children and their adult human teachers. And, to be clear, he doesn’t receive any special treatment, just because he is a dog; and nobody seems to be bothered or amazed to see a dog in a classroom. On the contrary, boys and girls are fighting to seat by him in the bus.

Bailey, being a dog, does some of the things a little different then most people. Let’s see how his daily routine goes. He wakes up in his dog house early in the morning at the sound of a chirping bird on his window seal. A plus bear is resting on the bed and the floor is littered with sticks and books. On the wall he has a cat calendar. He goes in the bathroom to groom and then in the closet where he “chooses what to wear” from a variety of colored collars. Then off he goes, throwing the same joke at the same bird, and almost missing the bus. Once at school, he stops to the same tree where the same squirrel is looking down on him.

Hopping that Mrs. Smith, the teacher won’t ask him about the homework, Bailey gives her a chewed-up bone as a gift for her birthday. At no good though as he had to confess that he had eaten his homework and now he has a tummy ache. At the nurse, he is advised that next time he should try a banana instead. But things are better in math class where the dog does great at addition…with bones.

In the art class Bailey paints with his tail making a mess all over, and in the gardening class, which takes place outside, he helps by digging all the holes in the garden, looking for bones, while the kids are lining up to plant their plants in the very holes he had made. Later, he sings and dances in the music class and when the reading time comes, at the very end, he falls asleep with a book on his lap. Lucky for him, Mrs. Smith wakes him up in time to catch the bus, which he almost missed it again.

And so, his day goes. What we learn from it is that dogs go to school and, even if that may seem different-which sure is-, that’s ok. We welcome them, being nice and accepting them as they are, brown spotted, yellow furred, pointy or floppy years, short or big, no matter the appearance. So far diversity goes, we embrace it.

Characters: Bailey, Mrs. Smith, children

Illustration: Harry Bliss is also the illustrator of this book. He is the creator of this character, Bailey, which he portrays as an average dog, resembling, maybe, a puppy Labrador. Over all the book is great. The subject teaches contemporary issues and the illustration is created to further enhance the story line.

The drawings have clear cut lines so everything there is, is unequivocal displayed. There’s details scattered through every single page of illustration that tells the stories without words. Some of the storyline notes above have been extracted from the illustration rather then the text itself. Another feature is that the participation of secondary characters through bubble text, in a cartoon style.

Recommended Age: 5 to 7

Reading Time: 7”

Since you read until the end, please take a second and rate this book. Thank you.

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