[Third Grader][Spoil Alerts]I just read a realistic fiction named "Dog Days", written by Karen English, illustrate by Laura Freeman. The main characters are Gavin, Gavin's sister Danielle, Aunt Mrytle, Aunt Mrytle's dog Carlotta, and Richard. It is written from a third person point of view.In the beginning of the book, Gavin is new to Caver Elementary School and he has only one friend named Richard. Richard came over to Gavin's house to play. They played video games which Richard got bored of in...

Who hasn't had a relative who thinks they are your parent? Gavin's Great Aunt Myrtle comes to stay for a visit and starts telling Gavin how to behave, eat his vegetables and not bother his older sister. Gavin sneaks into his sister's room with his friend, Richard, and they break her sno-globe. So Aunt Myrtle decides that Gavin will walk her dog and earn the money back to pay for it. Gavin runs into plenty of problems walking the dog, such as bullies, and embarrassing moments. This story rings tr...

Gavin is the new kid at Carver Elementary, but he thinks he's found a friend in Richard. When the two boys sneak into Gavin's sister's room to steal her candy, though, disaster strikes. Richard tosses Gavin's sister's snow globe, and before Gavin can catch it, it shatters against the dresser. Now Gavin is being forced to walk his great-aunt's yappy little dog for a week in order to make the money to pay back his sister. Could life get any more unfair? Turns out, this is just the beginning of Gav...

Gavin is starting at a new school this year, and has all the problems of the "new kid"; only one friend, a bossy older sister, a bully, and now due to an accident, he has to walk his visiting Great-Aunt's dog, Carlotta, a yappy Pomeranian, every day for a week after school to earn money to pay off the debt he owes. This down to earth tale in the life of a third grader will charm the reader with its witty humor, and real life issues as seen through the eyes, and mind of the newest student at Carv...

Dog Days is about Gavin, who has just moved to a new neighborhood and new school. When he invites his new friend Richard over they sneak into his sister’s bedroom to grab a couple pieces of candy from her hidden stash, but Richard tosses a snow globe to Gavin as a joke. Gavin misses the unexpected toss and the globe smashes on the ground. Of course, Gavin immediately gets caught and has to face the punishment.The punishment is having to walk his Aunt’s cruddy, ankle-biting Pomeranian, Carlotta,

Read for Battle of the Books. Honestly this is kind of terrible. It's well written, and I like Gavin's character but everyone else is horrible.Gavin and his friend Richard sneak into Gavin's sister's room, and Richard breaks a snow globe. He blames Gavin for not catching it, and Gavin gets into trouble. His sister enjoys making him miserable and his parents don't seem to care. Then his Aunt Myrtle comes to dinner and forces Gavin to eat his peas even though he gags the whole time. Who cares if h...

Gentle story of Gavin's everyday adventures. A perfectly fine book, and hooray for diversity, but boy, howdy, am I not the intended audience here.I am also really puzzled, because the blurb talks about Gavin being a new kid in school and how that's hard -- and honestly, if that's even mentioned in the story, I didn't notice it. It does explain why he puts up with Richard's completely terrible friendship (Richard is really bad at being a friend).

I read this book via Skype with my 7 year old grandson. We loved this book!!As a grandmother, I loved that the story was based on a family. The family consisted of a father, a mother, a daughter and a son. There were also extended family members of a great-aunt and great- uncle.The main character Gavin breaks a rule and has to suffer the consequences. Not only did he have to suffer, he had to make retribution as well. In order to pay his retribution, he had to complete a daily chore for one week...

Gavin is a normal boy. He tries to be kind and do as his parents wish, but sometimes he makes mistakes. When he shows a friend his sister's secret candy stash and they accidentally break one of her prized possessions, Gavin must face the consequences: Walking his aunts little yapping fluffy dog everyday while she stays with his family. Gavin is new at school. How will he make friends and prove he is cool while he has this horrible dog with him? In the end, Gavin learns a lot about doing the righ...

11/10/18 ~ I appreciate a boy of color on the cover. English's overly adult voice when narrating her protagonist's thoughts/perceptions sometimes throw me out of the story. This voice occasionally feels too didactic. Did I purchase this series for my elementary library? Yes. I think Gavin's predicament with his aunt and the little, yappy dog will resonate with a number of my readers. Also, I have many fans of the Nikki & Deja books, and I think they'll pick up these books.

Gavin is having trouble making friends at his new school, so when Richard comes over, he wants to show him a good time. He sneaks into his sister Danielle's room to steal candy, and Richard thinks it's a good idea to throw Danielle's snow globe across the room. It breaks, and Gavin must be punished. This comes in the form of walking his great aunt's Pekinese when his aunt stays with the family for a week. Other students make fun of him, but when the dog goes missing, Richard helps Gavin find the...

Gavin is new to his school and looking for a friend. Richard proves impulsive and unreliable. Gavin and Richard steal Gavin's sister's candy and then break one her souvenirs. As punishment, Gavin must walk his great-aunt's pampered Pomeranian every day for a week. This short early chapter book has an authentic 3rd grader's voice. The dog walking episodes are quite funny. It is a bit weak on disapproving of bad choices.

Dog Days by Karen English and beautifully illustrated by Laura Freeman is the first book in the scheduled The Carver Chronicles series and unpacks gently with the introduction of Gavin, a new third grader at Carver Elementary. Unlike his old school Bella Vista Elementary where he had lots of friends, Gavin managed to make only one friend, Richard.Gavin is eager to impress his only friend Richard, but the latter is not a true friend at all. As a result, Gavin finds himself dog-walking for his Aun...

Dog Days nails the kid perspective. Gavin is an all around nice kid, but a kid nonetheless. While sneaking into his sister’s room to eat her candy with his friend they manage to break Danielle’s prized snow globe. Gavin is worried, but more for himself than for his sister who he sees as a pain. His punishment, walking his aunt’s dog, seems so unfair and he gripes about in exactly the way a kid would.His new friend Richard is not the best friend around, but again Gavin uses his kid logic and does...

Summary:It's not easy being a new kid. Gavin has just begun the third grade at a new school. He had plenty of friends before, but making new ones is difficult. He thinks he has made a new friend, but things don't turn out quite like he had hoped. As punishment for his misdeeds, Gavin has to walk his aunt Myrtle's Pomeranian. Not only is this little dog a horror, but how is Gavin ever going to prove he is cool while walking a little poofy dog with a bright pink bow?My thoughts:This is a sweet sto...

Dog Days was a great book for early readers. The storyline was easily relatable to readers of all ages, and even as an adult I found myself pulled into the story, wondering how things would work out for Gavin. This is a great book about family, friendship, and responsibility, and how those things all relate while growing up.A good activity for children would be to compare and contrast events that happen in the book with events that happen in children's own lives. Do they have a family member tha...

After his family moves, Gavin struggles with finding friends in his new elementary school, Carver. No one there knows about his skateboarding or his personality, and even Richard, the one classmate who shows signs of being a possible friend, seems rather untrustworthy. To add to his unhappiness, his parents insist that he walk his Aunt Myrtle's fluffy Pomeranian, Carlotta. At first Gavin thoroughly dislikes the little dog, partly because of her yappy barks and partly because he fears what others...

Gavin hoped his sister wouldn't notice the missing snowglobe if he cleaned everything up fast enough. But she did, and she went and complained straight to their great-aunt Myrtle, who's moving in for a whole week with her yippy little dog Carlotta. Aunt Myrtle thinks it's a great idea for Gavin to earn some money to pay for the broken snowglobe (even if it was really his friend Richard who broke it), and no one second-guesses Aunt Myrtle. Gavin doesn't think it can get worse that walking around

Third grader Gavin just moved to a new school and is anxious to make a good impression. This is the first in a spin off series of Karen English's Nikki & Deja series with both girls appearing briefly in the story. Gavin is a compassionate little boy who sometimes lets his impulses win over his better judgement. In this story after one of these incidents involving a friend and his sister's broken snow globe, he receives the punishment of walking his Aunt Myrtle's snooty Pomeranian dog who attract...

Dog Days is a great story for children (especially boys) between the ageas 6-9 years old. Laura Freeman does a beautiful job with the illustrations as they jump off the page and into your heart. This says its the first book in the scheduled The Carver Chronicles series. The process of being a 3rd grader, starting and new school and making new friends. So many things that a elementary student can relate to and understand.