Art Seiden (1923–2004)

In my opinion this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. The story is narrated by a little dog named Michael as he shows his dog friends around Baltimore and tells the reader about historical landmarks and interesting places to visit. I really like how the point of view is inviting and makes the reader almost a part of the story; Michael seems to be talking to his audience. For example, on one page in the book the dog says, “At the Maryland Science Center you can learn about the metric show more system. They also have a lot of experiments you can try. I like the video games.” I also really like the illustrations in the book and think they strongly support the text that accompanies them. The dogs appear on every page with the children which is a great way to keep the attention of younger students. I think the big message from the book is that there are so many exciting things about Baltimore and great ways for kids to become active in the community. show less

I enjoyed this book for three reasons. I liked this book because it talked about all the historical landmarks that were popular back then(the book was published in 1982) that are still popular today. Those places include The Aquarium, Maryland Science Museum, Cloisters Children’s Museum, and Harbor Place. Some of these places are closer to Towson than we know. I also like that this book talks about the Baltimore Colts and Orioles. The Colts were the football team of Baltimore, until they show more were bought by Indianapolis in 1983-4, and moved in the middle of the night, without telling anybody. After losing multiple court battles over ownership, The Ravens became Baltimore’s new football team in 1996. Finally, I like the illustrations of the book. I like that the illustrator uses a dog as the voice of the story, It makes this book more child friendly. I also like that the illustrations feature popular places we have now, such as The Greene Turtle. Children can learn a lot about the city of Baltimore, whether they live there or are just visiting. show less

I was asked to "please read it again" by my 2 1/2 yr. old granddaughter. We discussed the purpose of each type of railroad car and I think having a "little" train as well as a big train made it more fun. She's also a fan of "Freight Train" by Donald Crews.

I had this book growing up and was thrilled when I found it at a thrift store. My kids like the colorful pictures and, for some reason, when they are learning to read their numbers they can read them in this book more easily than in other counting books.