Eleanor loves to read Go, Dog. Go! (Also known as "Car puppy book") We own the board book version of the classic story. And it drives me bonkers.
Let me type out the text of the board book, and see if you notice what I don't like.
"Go, dogs. Go!
Go on skates or go by bike.
Go by foot--run, skip, or hike!
Go by scooter!
Go by skis--bundle up so you don't freeze.
Go by blimp, by boat, by car.
Go, dogs. Go! It's not too far!
Stop, dogs. Stop! The light is red.
Go, dogs. Go! It's green ahead.
You're almost there! Stop at that tree.
Climb that ladder to...a dog party!"
Am I the only one that's bugged by the fact that the title says, Go, Dog. Go! but in every reference inside the book it's Go, Dogs. Go!?
I was so irritated that I looked it up on Amazon to see if anyone else cared. Turns out lots of people do. They're all annoyed about the board book version, because there are apparently lots of changes from the original version. Which leads me to wonder why Random House chose to change it so dramatically, without making it clear on the cover that it's abridged. Because in teeny tiny print on the inside cover it says, "Originally published in a different form as Go, Dog. Go! (Beginner Books)." To me that implies that the book itself was a different form (i.e. it went from having real pages to being a board book). But apparently that means that they have free license to just wildly change the text - the original edition is about 50 pages long, and much funnier. ("Do you like my hat? I do not like your hat!")
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Should I recommend this to my grandma? Maybe. She might be kind of insulted though.
"Go, dogs. Go!
Go on skates or go by bike.
Go by foot--run, skip, or hike!
Go by scooter!
Go by skis--bundle up so you don't freeze.
Go by blimp, by boat, by car.
Go, dogs. Go! It's not too far!
Stop, dogs. Stop! The light is red.
Go, dogs. Go! It's green ahead.
You're almost there! Stop at that tree.
Climb that ladder to...a dog party!"
Am I the only one that's bugged by the fact that the title says, Go, Dog. Go! but in every reference inside the book it's Go, Dogs. Go!?
I was so irritated that I looked it up on Amazon to see if anyone else cared. Turns out lots of people do. They're all annoyed about the board book version, because there are apparently lots of changes from the original version. Which leads me to wonder why Random House chose to change it so dramatically, without making it clear on the cover that it's abridged. Because in teeny tiny print on the inside cover it says, "Originally published in a different form as Go, Dog. Go! (Beginner Books)." To me that implies that the book itself was a different form (i.e. it went from having real pages to being a board book). But apparently that means that they have free license to just wildly change the text - the original edition is about 50 pages long, and much funnier. ("Do you like my hat? I do not like your hat!")
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Should I recommend this to my grandma? Maybe. She might be kind of insulted though.
How about you? Do abridgements bother you?
Full disclosure: Book image and title link are Amazon affiliate links. Edited 8/9/13.
