Muldoon

 

Pamela Duncan Edwards brings fun into her texts.  Henry Cole has illustrated the majority of her books, including this one,  Muldoon.  Muldoon is a dog.  He loves his family and does many things for them. 

The story begins with Muldoon being chosen to work for the family.  Pamela narrates the story from Muldoon’s point of view.  The dog is given the personified quality of an employee at a job.  Muldoon has working conditions, supervises the children, and protects the family.  Henry Cole show the family’s point of view through the pictures, which is a contrast to what Muldoon is sharing with his reader.  Cute and very inviting as a read aloud for all ages.

Savorings for reading and in writing for Muldoon:

• Dog’s point of view – “big blue kennel”, “private apartment”
• Inferring in the illustrations – the dog is eating the cat food to keep the cat on its diet
• Personification – the entire text weaves the dog’s viewpoint as a person who has been hired by the family
• Magic of 3
• Sequence of events – highlights snapshots of events in the Muldoon’s daily life