Officer Buckle and Gloria (edition 1995)

This is such a great picture book in that the illustrations really capture the attention of the reader beyond what the text could do alone. Even as an adult, I found myself waiting to see what would happen next and excited to see Gloria. This would be the perfect book to share to teach students about friendship, teamwork, and safety. This is one that I'd like to have in my classroom library. ( )

Officer Buckle deals in safety tips. When he secures a partner in Gloria the dog, children everywhere book him for his safety speeches. It isn't until later that Officer Buckle realizes that Gloria acts out his safety tips and his more than just a normal police dog.

In this story officer Buckle is a police officer who gives saftey tips at the school. One day he gets a new partner, a dog named Gloria. Everybody forgets about officer Buckle until their is an accident at school and they ask him to come back.
Source: Pierce County Library
Ages: 4-6

Summary:
This book is about an officer named Buckle, who is all about safety. No one ever payed attention to him and his warnings. Officer Buckle was given a dog by the name of Gloria, by the police station. Once Gloria came into the picture people started to listen to the safety messages because the dog would act out the action of the safety rule stated by Officer Buckle. Officer Buckle did not know that the dog was acting out his safety rules, once he found out by watching the news, he was in disgust and wanted nothing to do with it. After that he realized just how good of a team he and Gloria truly was.

Personal Reactions:
Even though I do not have a personal experience to follow or relate to this story, I can see how you can be so into your work that you are not open to new ideas or are blinded by the work. I have been in that position before.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
This had a couple of good teaching thought to give children. One is the power of friendship and what the benefits are of that friendship. Second, is to keep an open mind to new ideas or thoughts, your ideas are not always the best. A combination of ideas becomes the whole. I had to explain this to my own daughter. ( )

The humorous illustrations in this book are held in vibrant colored cartoons. The expressions in the faces of Officer Buckle and his dog Gloria look really authentic and portray the emotions of them excellently. The pictures are simple and at the same time they are entertaining and diverting and perfectly match with the story about Officer Buckle who is giving safety tips to children in schools and his new dog Gloria. ( )