Kristine O'Connell George has written one of the most endearing books of the year....Every poem illuminates another incident in the busy life of Little Dog, and dog-owners are sure to recognize their own pets in him. June Otani's watercolors are as charming as the text.

This book is a delight for young dog lovers and parents of young dog lovers. The poems are easy to read and charmingly illustrated with watercolors by June Otani. If you can read this one without one out-loud, 'Awwww!' you've got a heart made of stone.

My second graders just fell in love with this book. Viva Little Dog

Quiddle with words, swing to the tree tops with ghosts, jump and giggle with frogs. Kristine O'Connell George must surely be a sprite who has a pixie philosophy seasoned with an empathic maturity. Kids love these poems and so do I! Read them aloud, one a night, little gifts for your child to imagine just before sleep. The Kate Kiesler illustrations light up the page and capture attention.

This book is a must buy!

A wonderful thing happened to me as I read Kristine O'Connell George's poems. I discovered a younger, quirkier me--the child I once was. There she was, taking the time to talk to a tree, to notice the polliwogs, "stubby as toes", to stand in the rain's "strands of wet thread". And there she was again, dreaming of "wind in my hair" atop an old nag that wasn't going anywhere.

I like to remember myself as a kid who saw life and movement and humor in the most surprising of places. Surely that was Kristine George, too. Even now she doesn't think it's odd to imagine the "strong-jawed grin" of a monkey wrench or the loyalty of an old metal bucket, or the dreams of the garden hose as it "wonders what to be when it grows up". Maybe if Kristine and I had been best friends then, or if I'd had this lovely, compassionate, dream-affirming book, I'd have taken the time to write more poems. I would have been inspired to "quiddle" with words and images that gave me pleasure. And that's just what the poet invites her readers to do.

Every time I read this book I marvel at the perfection of the poetic images. My ear takes pleasure in the music of the words. I am drawn into the lush, evocative paintings by Kate Kiesler.

But best of all, there's The Great Frog Race of my childhood, "over quickly", but recaptured beautifully in this book

a wonderful roller coaster ride for both children andadults. you will be enthralled as you read these beautiful poems ofchildhood discovery,written with beautiful and heart tugging imagery, humor, and prose. Run and add to your shopping cart.

I'm using this book for my Arbor Day and Earth Day units with a combination 3/4th class. The poetry is magical and gives a whole new dimension to trees and the environment. George's poems have inspired my students to write some of their most creative work so far this year. I don't think any of us will look at trees in quite the same way after reading Old Elm Speaks.

I LOVE this book. Tree Traffic cracked me up and has been making me and my kids giggle ever since we read it. I like this book even more than THE GREAT FROG RACE--and that's saying something! Pick a favorite poem from this new tree collection? No. Beaver Dam, Maple Shoot in the Pumpkin Patch (I know JUST how that helicopter pilot feels!), Tree Horse(all the kids think spending time in a tree is an adventure), At Night (deliciously shivery), Tree's Place, Knotholes (...not for naught...I went off on a whole list of knot/not/naught--hole/whole/'ol puns), Poaching (brought to mind not only ripe plums, but also brittle leaf litter and sticky sap-traps!), Lullaby (I teared up--emotions from mothering memories flooded me), Blue Spruce (our front yard!!), Autumn (SO appropriate after the forest fires in the hills last summer--echoed in the city foliage in the fall), Storm (bittersweet after watching the neighbors have their beautiful, tall, authoritative tree butchered last week because they were afraid it would snap and fall on the house), Avalanche (brought back pictures of Mt. St. Helen's after its volcanic tantrum), and of course, Old Elm Speaks. I see I listed nearly the whole book when I just meant to pick out a few for special attention. So much for restraint!!

Our family rates this book a "Best Buy."

There are, in each of Kristine O'Connell George's books, moments that make you gasp with the depth of insight she's put into words. "Toasting Marshmallows" is no different in that respect and is a joy to read. George has captured the sights, sounds -- and silences that are part of camping. With humor and joy, the camping experience -- from setting up the tent to listening to an owl --is illuminated and enhanced by the words in this delightful book of poems. A treasure for the summer -- and all year round!

For most young listeners, free verse poetry instills boredom and confusion. No rhythm? No rhyme? No story? There's no such problem with Little Dog and Duncan, a charming anthology of short poems that weave together mini-episodes in the story of a friendly wolfhound who has an overnight visit with his diminutive neighbor, Little Dog.
As a read aloud story, it's a delightful success. Lessons in opposites and similarities are naturally woven into each sceanario, and children can't help but enjoy recognizing human behavior in the familiar canine personalities. But it's at its best read alone when the words have an opportunity to work on a multiple planes, inviting imaginative reader analysis of the poetic form.

A simple story told about the week Duncan, an Irish wolfhound, comes to visit Little Dog. The dogs are excited to see one another, have moments of jealously and at the end, Little Dog is sad when Duncan goes home. The story is told in concise, eloquent wording: "Little Dog yips, runs in circles, runs to the door, barking -- Visitor!" Charming watercolor illustrations detail the owner, who is a young girl, and the two dogs.

The book may not qualify as great poetry, but it does a good job of showing the point of view of a child enduring the sometimes frightening, difficult, and at times even exhilarating transition to middle school. Sixth graders (or kids in the first year of middle school) are likely to really connect with the short poems in this book. It is easy to read and appealing.

I really liked this book even though I'm a guy and it's about a girl. Some of the same stuff has happened to me in middle school as in the pomes.