ALA Booklist (Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 1999)

%% This is a multi-book review: SEE also the title How to Talk to Your Cat. %% Gr. 24, younger for reading aloud. George, who has mostly written about wild animals, turns to domesticated ones in these lively offerings. She wants readers to know that cats and dogs communicate with their owners through touch, smell, and body language, and that kids who know what their pets are saying can communicate right back. Each book begins with a short history of the animal and how it became domesticated. Then George goes on to discuss how to recognize the different signs and sounds that make pets endearing or annoying. The design is part of the fun: cut-out color photos of George show her mingling with cartoon cats and dogs. She's patting a head or down on her knees nuzzling a nose. The typeface mimics handwriting, giving the book a friendly look. Some of the information will be easy for kids to process--what the look of an animal's tail signifies, for example; other facts are less well explained--it's hard to differentiate meows in print. But overall, these books are full of intriguing information that kids can use to make friends of their pets. (Reviewed December 15, 1999)

Kirkus Reviews

<p>1884</p> 1884.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-An easy-to-read, conversational, humorous, and informative guide that will help young dog owners communicate with their pets. (However, the author warns, "it is not very rewarding to bark at your dog. He doesn't understand your bad accent, and may twist his head and look at you in confusion.") The illustrations depict George interacting with various cartoon canines whose expressive and varied postures, faces, and actions are irresistible in a Jules Feifferesque way. They begin with a demonstration of how to get the dog's attention and show who's the boss. (George is shown on all fours, "tail" in air, nose-to-nose with a yellow mixed-breed in the same posture.) The book then explains tail talk, facial expressions, sniffing behaviors, eye language, and sounds. The author's affectionate understanding of dogs is very apparent, and makes this book one that can be read just for pleasure by any dog lover, as well as for information by any child curious as to what certain actions may mean-or how to stop a dog from doing them. The final picture of George sitting on a park bench with dogs on and around her-goofy dogs, adoring dogs, stolid dogs, sleepy dogs-is a perfect portrayal of good communication.-Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Focused on the ways in which dogs and cats communicate their needs and moods, "these approachable and informative volumes belong on the shelf of anyone who lives (or is contemplating living) with a dog or cat," wrote <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW in a starred review. Ages 6-9. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Feb.)

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2000)

These informative, good-natured guides to pet behavior emphasize the importance of learning the ways in which pets communicate emotions through their actions, facial expressions, and body positions. The combination of photos of the author and cartoony illustrations of animals works against the factual insistence of the texts; however, the illustrations are for the most part skillful at capturing familiar animal expressions.