Carl's Birthday

It's Carl's birthday and Madeleine's mother wants to give the family Rottweiler a surprise birthday party. Madeleine and Carl are sent to a neighbour's house, but instead of taking a nap, the curious, mischievous twosome sneak back into their house, checking out the presents, sampling the cake and so on. Again, almost wordless, with brilliant, bright illustrations, this would be an entertaining story to share with a child, especially a child who has the tendency to be curious about his/her birthday party and wrapped birthday and/or Christmas gifts. However, the adult in me rather feels sorry for the mother and that her efforts to create a surprise birthday party for Carl are somewhat diminished by Carl and Madeleine's curiosity.

Although show more I did not enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed Carl's Snowy Afternoon and Carl's Summer Vacation, I decided to again assign five stars, mostly because some of the illustrations are truly priceless and again left me with fond and nostalgic memories of our own Rottweilers. The absolutely hilarious illustration of Carl trying on his new yellow rain-poncho had me laughing and reminded me of the expression in our own Rottweiler's eyes the one time my mother tried to get him to wear a doggie-sweater. His expression seemed to say (just like Carl's expression seems to say), "You really want me to wear THAT?" But for me, the most special, the most nostalgic illustration is the final illustration of Carl, draped over the mother's lap. This really had me reminiscing, remembering how our Rottweilers used to drape themselves over my mother's lap. It was their greatest joy, especially on the weekend, when my mother actually let them stay on her lap for extended periods of time. show less

This book is unique in the way that it only has words on the first and last pages. On the first page, the mom asks her neighbor if Carl (the dog) and Madeleine (her daughter) could nap at her house so that she can prepare for Carl's surprise party. But, Madeleine and Carl's adventure, as depicted by only pictures, starts with drinking punch, opening presents, tasting the cake. At the end, is a picture of the surprise party and Madeleine's mother thinking they really fooled Carl.

A book without words shows Carl and Madeline arising from their nap to inspect the preparations for Carl the Dog's birthday

M loves this book for its vivid pictures which are cute and are the basis for many imaginative tales.

Carl and Madeleine have adventures during "naptime," as the oblivious mother plans a "surprise" party for Carl.

wordless book,plot predictions,dog lover book

Lots of interesting details to observe.