Pinkerton, Behave! by Steven Kellogg

This book is about a dog named Pinkerton who doesn't follow commands. He does the opposite of what he is told. He goes to obedience school but is kicked out for being a bad influence on the other dogs. One night a burglar comes in and the owner is frightened. But, she commands Pinkerton to do certain things because she knows that Pinkerton will do the opposite. Pinkerton gets rid of the burglar and everyone lives happily ever after.

I like this book because it is funny and many kids can relate to this if they have a dog. The pictures add humor that the text can't fully capture. I would recommend it for kids ages 3-8.

This is considered a controversial book because the burglar that enters the house, holds a gun to the owner's head and says "This is a stickup, lady. Don't move, or I'll blast you and your silly hound to chicken powder." Some people feel that this may be too violent and there shouldn't be pictures of any kinds of weapons in children's books. In this case, if you took the gun out and changed what he said, then it wouldn't ruin the book; it would still have the same meaning. I probably would still read this book to kids because it may be something that they don't even notice and I don't believe that after reading this book, they would go out and get a gun.