Everything for a Dog

Everything for a Dog

Written by: Ann M. Martin

Published by Feiwel and Friends in 2009.


Addictive, Believable, Emotional, Heart-Wrenching, Tragic


Summary:
Everything for a Dog is about a boy named Henry who really wants a dog, but his parents won't let him get one. He doesn't understand why until he learns about the death of his dad's dog. Henry understands why his dad does not want him to have dog, but when a stray dog comes into town he can't help but fall in love with him. Through a series of events, Henry and his family fall in love with the stray dog and end up giving him a home.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 890L
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.7
Interest Level: Grades 3-5

Electronic Resources:
Ann Martin Interview
This link leads to an interview with Ann Martin about her book. She talks about how she came up with the idea for writing the book and what her inspirations were. She also talks about her writing process and what difficulties she had in writing Everything for a Dog.

Timeline
This link leads to an interactive timeline. You can click on the dots on the timeline and a description of what happened at that time pops up. This is helpful in sequencing the events in the story.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story to teach students how to compare and contrast characters.
Teachers can use this story to teach students that there are many different points of view.

Suggested Delivery:
Students will read independently. This book has easy concepts and is an easy read. Also, reading independently allows students to think for themselves before they share their ideas.

Key Vocabulary:
Nuisance, Humiliation, Cautiously, Tentatively, Companion, Atmosphere

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Students will read the back cover of the book. From the back cover, they will write down questions that they have about the book. These questions should be able to be answered as the students read.

During Reading:
Students  will answer the questions that they made in the before reading. They will also make five discussion questions for their literary groups about the book. The questions will have to evoke thought. They should be inferential questions.

After Reading:
Students will have a literacy discussion based on their discussion questions. The conversation should flow naturally, not just a question then an answer.

Writing Activity:
Students will compare and contrast the events the three main characters went through and the feelings the characters had throughout the book.