NO DOGS ALLOWED! (Picture Book)

by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Kristin Sorra

Sterling, 2011

A Book Review by

Oliver the Telepathic Puppy

When I saw this book, I thought I wasn’t supposed to read it because the cover says: NO DOGS ALLOWED! That hurt my feelings. Then it made me mad. I like the dog on the cover and I wanted to know that dog’s story.

I read this book even though the cover told me not to. Nobody yelled at me. I found out that NO DOGS ALLOWED! isn’t a warning for dogs not to read this book. It’s the book’s title.

NO DOGS ALLOWED! is about a man named Alberto who doesn’t want animals to come to his restaurant. He has tables set up on the sidewalk outside his restaurant. He has a chalkboard sign next to the tables. On it is the word “WELCOME!” When Alberto sees a boy and a dog coming near, he changes the sign. The new words he writes are “NO DOGS ALLOWED.” The boy and the dog don’t ignore the no dogs allowed sign like I sometimes do. They cross the street to sit by a fountain.

Next Alberto sees a girl and a cat coming. He changes the words on the sign again. This time he writes NO DOGS OR CATS ALLOWED. The girl and the cat join the boy and the dog at the fountain.

Alberto has to keep changing his sign because every person that comes by has a different kind of animal with them. Soon there are a lot of people and all different types of animals having fun together around the fountain. A woman with an ice cream and lemonade stand gets all their business while Alberto is all alone on the other side of the street. Because he didn’t welcome the animals he isn’t selling any food. Everybody except Alberto is having a good time until the ice cream and lemonade stand runs out of goodies. That’s when the boy and the dog try to convince Alberto to change his sign one more time. You can read this book yourself to see if Alberto agrees.

This story has just a few words. A few of those few words are things that are said, but most of those few words are written on the sign.

My favorite part of this book is looking at all the different people and animals who show up. A penguin rides in a kangaroo’s pouch. A girl hula hoops with a bunny. A hippopotamus sips lemonade from a straw in a glass held by a bird. Even with just a few words, this is a book that can be read over and over whether you are a dog like me, a person, a cat, or an iguana. Everybody is allowed to read this book.