The Five-Dog Night

(easy, picture) This is a cute story about Ezra, a grumpy old bachelor set in his ways, and his neighbor Betty, a concerned nosybody, who just wants to be friends. Ezra has his five dogs and that's all he needs. He resents but puts up with his neighbor Betty's visits and concerns as to whether he is warm enough, to which he replies, "it's a one dog night" or a " two dog night" and so on depending on how cold it is. Betty, of course, thinks he is out of his mind and doesn't know what he means. She can't understand why he won't use a blanket until she checks on him one bitter cold morning and sees what he means by a five dog night. Ezra is not pleased with her visit and the two have a quarrel. Weeks later, Ezra misses Betty and goes down show more to see her, surprised that she too how has five dogs and the two can quibble back and forth about how many a dog night it will be. I thought this to be a charming story about friendship, getting stubborn in your old age, and understanding where someone is coming from. The ending made me chuckle because Betty finally "got" what Ezra was talking about once she got her dogs. It was as if they had unwittingly changed roles and neither was aware of it. show less

Old curmudgeon Ezra lives up on a hill with his five dogs. Betty visits, offering blankets and hot chocolate as winter sets in. Ezra things she's a busy body, until she stops visiting and Ezra grows lonely. The dogs are the best part of the book.

I had no idea what I thought this book might be about, but I read it anyways. I thought it was neat of Christelow to use the phrase "five-dog night" or "two-dog night" to describe how cold Ezra thought it was. He did not use blankets, rather he covered up with his dogs and they kept him warm. There was a bit of repetition in that Betty continuously checked on Ezra and he always gave her attitude and told her to stop checking on him. I thought it was great that Christelow changed Ezra's attitude when Betty stopped checking on him. He became gloomy and in a slump. I think that shows children that even though someone might be bothering them, their life would be duller without them in it.

Ezra is a grumpy old man that lives alone with five dogs. His dogs love the busybody neighbor, Betty. Fall is coming and Betty tells Ezra he will need a blanket soon. His response is he is fine, he doesn't need anything. Betty calls him stubborn and he calls her nosy. Next day she tells him it was a chilly night and he says nope just a one dog night. Couple months later she tells him about winter weather, he insists he will be fine. The next day he tells her it was a two dog night. It snows and Betty brings Ezra a blanket but he doesn't use it and says its a three dog night. Couple weeks later, temperatures are below zero, Betty drives to Ezra's house with hot chocolate and notices no smoke coming out the chimney. She walks in and sees show more him sleeping with all his dogs. He jumps up and wonders why she's there and she said just checking on you. He said don't worry you old nosy busybody. She said fine I won't you are a grouch. Weeks went by, weather got warmer, the dogs watched for Betty daily. Ezra felt grumpy and didn't know why. He decides to put on his nicest shirt and bake cookies for Betty. Him and his five dogs go to her house to discover she has five dogs too now. She tells Ezra she got them because they are better company than some people she knows. They brew tea and eat cookies. Ezra said weather is getting warmer, her reply was it's only a one dog night. Ezra said nope its a two dog night, you will catch a pneumonia. I recommend this book to grades K-3. This book is a good book to read to teach a lesson about appreciating others company. Children will enjoy the plot and the characters are entertaining because they are so different. show less

This is a story about an old man named Ezra and his 5 dogs. Ezra's neighbor, Betty, comes to visit him everyday, much to the annoyance of Ezra. His reply to Betty's insistance on the cold weather is always "Wasn't so bad, it was only a 1 dog night" (and as it gets colder, the number of dogs increase). Finally, as Betty checks up on Ezra to see if he is okay, he yells at her to never come back. As Ezra gets lonely, he visits Betty as a peace-offering and finds out that she now has 5 dogs!

A cute story, I guess, but a little boring and kind of pointless in my opinion. I'm sure younger kids will like it.

I love this book. The grumpy old man, the busy-body well-meaning neighbor lady. The dogs. The cold. I love it.

A cute story of two elderly neighbors, one a cranky old man, the other a nosy old lady. He is happy to spend his days and nights with his five dogs. He doesn't like her daily visits until she stops visiting. He then decides to go visit her. Much to his surprised she has five dogs of her own now!