Carl's Christmas

Carl is a Rottweiler, and his people go to Grandma's and church one day, leaving him home alone with the baby. Carl maybe should learn to use the telephone so he can call protective services, especially as his people still haven't come home by nightfall. But Carl does an amazing job taking care of the baby, taking her on some lovely adventures and snuggling her to sleep and greeting Santa Claus on her behalf. An absolute delight of an almost-wordless picture book with simply gorgeous illustrations.

This mostly wordless book pictures Carl the dog put in charge of babysitting the baby while the family goes to Grandma's and church. While I don't like the concept of the story, the illustrations and adventures of Carl and the baby are adorable and well-done.

Loyal to his family, Carl's owners leave him alone to watch the baby. If you can get past the idea that adults would leave a baby with a dog, this is a delightful tale of the meaning of Christmas.

Carl takes the baby outside on Christmas Eve as they visit stores, donate to the poor and bring home animals in need of shelter. Santa visits while the baby and the new found friends sleep in front of the fire place.

The illustrations are lovely.

Carl’s Christmas
I liked this book for a couple of reasons. First though the book is about a dog that gets left home with a baby. It is Christmas Eve and Carl decides to take the baby out for a trip so he dresses the baby and the baby rides him into the snow. They see reindeer while they are walking and pass a toy shop that they look in. Finally they head back to the house and fall asleep, then Santa comes and delivers presents to everyone in the house even the mouse. They wake up the next morning and see the presents he has left. One reason I liked this book was because of the cool and colorful hand drawn pictures. The pictures looked very real but at the same time looked very drawn. The pictures looked very story like and represented show more what was going on and the mood very well. They encourage the reader to be inquisitive which I like in a book. The second thing I like about this book was the message of the book which was giving and then you will receive. In the book while the Carl and the baby are out the baby gives his hat to a needy tin next to a man dressed as Santa Clause. Then the baby gets a new red hat from the same man for Christmas except he was the real Santa all along. The idea of giving when you have more than you need is an important topic for me and is well represented in this story. show less

Primary (1st-3rd)

This book has no words but still tells a story through the pictures. It tells the story of Carl (the dog) taking care of the family baby while the parents go out. He takes the baby around town and then they go home to wait for Santa where the baby falls asleep. The dog hears Santa and goes to help him silver the presents to the house. Then he puts the baby to bed as if nothing happened.

This book would be a good holiday book to read to kids. It has lots of pages where kids can discuss what might be going on and why. It also gives students the opportunity to make their own stories about what is happening.

#1474 in our old book database. Rated "Indifferent"

Carl is cute as the dickens as he cares for the baby on Christmas Eve, going shopping, giving to charity, and taking in a stray dog. And once everyone else is asleep, Carl has a special encounter with a very familiar figure.

I loved Carl's Christmas while growing up. I think that this book is a fantastic way to let children explore their imaginations. The book starts out with a mother and father who are leaving their baby for the night and they are leaving her with their Rottweiler. Which I believe makes a great fantasy book. The story then goes on with charming pictures but no words. One reason I loved the Carl stories growing up was because I always got to make the story my own. I think children would love to make up their own stories in the classroom.

A great classroom activity would be to let the children make up their own carl story and share it with the class. The students could also draw their own pictures to go with their stories.