Charlie the Ranch Dog

I am a preschool teacher who teaches about cowboys every year. I thought that this book may fit in to my plans well. I am amazed at how great this book it. First time children's author Ree Drummond finds a nice balance of sharing life on the ranch with the preschool set and telling a story about her beloved dog Charlie. As I read this to my focus group(my own 4 year old) she caught on quickly without being prompted to look for the chipmunk, and noticed that Suzie(the other dog) did all the work. When asked, Katy's favorite part was when the cows were eating the veggies out of the garden and Charlie howled at them! There are many good things about this book, and I thought the illustrations were delightful. What a fun peek into the world of a real working ranch for my city slicker preschoolers! :)

If you, like me, tend to shy away from celebrity written books, especially in the children's arena, DON'T MISS this one! And if you've never heard of Ree Drummond it doesn't matter because this story is clever, fun & can take young readers vicariously to visit a ranch. Told in the dog's voice (very useful for teachers who need a read aloud to demonstrate voice)we join Charlie in a day in the life of a ranch dog. Another literary device that can be taught with this book is irony with Charlie's subtle, self deprecating humor. Students I read the book to love finding the little chipmunk on each page of Diane de Groat's charming, realistic illustrations. Not sure how the recipe for lasagna makes sense at the end--maybe chili would have been more authentic?

Previous story!

I first read this to my daughter 3 years ago I think; before she could read on her own. I just read it to her again as a bedtime story with my southern drawl that she gets a kick out of. I don't normally have an accent, but since I grew up in Texas I do a great impression. We always have lots of laughs and enjoy finding the squirrel hidden on each page each time we read it. There are very few books that can make you smile as much as they did the first time you read them, but this one does. My daughter can now read this on her own and I suspect that she tries to read it with a southern accent when I'm not around. I like the Pioneer Woman, but I was a little nervous about buying the book because alot of celebrities try to write books, but they aren't good. I'm thankful I decided to give this book a chance, because it's one of my favorite children's books now, right up there with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are.

I have kids 7 and 4 and I don't read to them often enough! I buy a lot of books and then expect them to get excited about the books and then we never read them. So, I ordered this book on Tues. and it was here on Thursday and I was so excited to read it to them. It was so much FUN! I was able to change my voice and talk "more country" (not hard since I am southern) and the kids enjoyed finding the squirrel on every page and hearing about this lazy lovable dog charlie. It was so well illustrated and it was fun to read. I took the book to my son's daycare today so they could enjoy it. BUY it!

My friend found this book at a local store, we have a mutual friend who had a Basset Hound named Charlie that passed away a few years ago. Since he was having a little girl we decided this would be the perfect addition to our shower gift just for him! His eyes welled up with tears when he saw it...This is such a delightful tale that I had to get a copy of the book for myself as well. It wasn't until I bought my copy on Amazon that i realized it is written by the woman who has a website I simply love called The Pioneer Woman! Not only is this site filled with amazing recipes, it has tons of crafty ideas and it's brimming with photography ideas and inspirations. I'm thrilled to once again find another reason the love The Pioneer Woman, Charlie the Ranch Dog is a wonderful book for any ranch or hound dog lover!

Charlie reminds us of our Basset and we love these stories. Too cute.

What a great childrens book. I've been a fan of Ree's for years. I watch her tv show, I use alot of her receipes, and I love her dog Charlie. In fact, we recently brought home a basset hound and it is the best pup. I didn't even realize she wrote a book about her charlie but when I heard about it, the kids wanted it so badly. They said, "Hey mommy isn't that the lady you watch on tv with the horses and the ranch that cooks?" They were so excited that they had a basset and we live on farm so they felt they were connected to Ree somehow. I highly recommend it. And I have to admit, I think I love the book more than anyone in the house. It's definetly one of the ones that won't go into the yardsale bin at the end of the year!