The Family Bookshelf
By Bob Walch
 "Doodle Bites"
By Polly Dunbar
The Audience: For children 3-6.
The Issue: Doddle, a little green alligator, is going through a "biting" phase and bites another one of his friends.
The Content: Part of the Tilly and Friends series of story books, this adventure focuses on Doodle, a little green alligator who wakes up one morning feeling "BITY". After nibbling on the furniture, Doodle takes a bite out of Tumpty's behind.
The elephant is not amused by his friend's behavior and retaliates by stomping on Doodle's tail. Now everyone is crying and upset so Tilly has to step in and resolve the situation. First the little girl bandages her friends' hurty parts, and then she gives them all a kiss and makes sure apologies are presented.
What happens if Doodle feels "bity" again? As you'll see, Tilly and the other critters came up with a clever way of handling that too!
The Message: If you have a child who might be into biting here's a perfect way of addressing the problem. After reading the story aloud, talk about what caused the conflict between Doodle and Tumpty. As the author does, don't forget to also stress the importance of saying "I'm sorry!" when the problem is resolved.
Before retiring, Bob Walch taught English in Santa Barbara and Carmel for 39 years. His reviews of children's literature appear in Central Coast newspapers and on line at the Reading Tub, Roundtable Reviews, My Shelf and Parent Click. |
