Joanie Clarkson
The Night I Followed the Dog written and illustrated by Nina Laden and read by Amanda Bynes. Have you ever wondered where dogs go at night, and what they do? Well the little boy in this story has reason to believe there is something funny going on, and he's ready to find out what it is.
Transcript
Welcome to the Screen Actors Guild Foundation book pounce on me and binds. You might know me from all that with Nickelodeon, the man to show or big fat liar. Today I'm going to be reading a story about a dog, and I have two dogs. So I thought it was a pretty cool idea. It's called the night I follow the dog. It's written and illustrated by Nina Laden. I have a dog, nothing exotic or special, just an ordinary dog. In fact, I always thought he was a boring dog. What I mean is we can fetch rollover and shake hands, but mostly he sleeps and eats. I used to think that our next door neighbors had the best dog in the world. Their dog can sing and change channels on the TV. Their dog always wins medals and obedience school. I don't think their dog is so great now. Not since the night I followed my dog. Every night, I let my dog out and he runs off into the darkness with this tail wagging. The next morning I let him in and he had straight for the food bowl. But one morning I knew something was funny. When I open the door a little bit earlier than usual and I saw my dog jump out of a limousine wearing a tuxedo. Before I could look twice, he disappeared into the backyard and I open the kitchen door and whistled. When he came into the house, he is the same as he always is hungry. I really wasn't sure that I believed what I had seen. So that night I decided to follow him. I wore dark clothing so I wouldn't be noticed. And I left my bicycle near the door so I'd have it close by. When I let the dog out, I slipped out to I took up the garbage so we wouldn't suspect anything. The dog went straight to his doghouse. I saw a light go on inside. Slowly. I snuck around the backyard and peeked into the doghouse. This is not the dog house that I had. Inside. There was a living room, a bathroom, and a huge closet full of fancy clothes. The dog was in the bathroom. He was wearing a tuxedo and fumbling with the bow tie. When he came out, he casually walked out of the doghouse across the yard and down the street. I grabbed my bicycle and followed him. Two blocks later, I saw a limousine pullover. The dog got in and the car took off. I started peddling faster. The car headed across town. I thought it would lose them, but luckily, they were stopped by a few red lights. After a while, I found myself in a part of town that I'd never seen before. The buildings all seemed to be empty and it was very quiet. The limousine stopped. I head and watch my dog it out. He disappeared into a building and the limousine pulled away. There was nothing on the outside of the building just to brass fire hydrants on either side of the entrance. I open the door. At the end of the hall, there was a neon sign that said the dog house. I craft closer. It looks like some kind of club. I decided to get a closer look. At the moment I opened the door to mean looking, bulldogs appeared and said, You can't come in here. I didn't know what to say. So I said But but but I saw my dog. I mean, I think my dogs in here. Just then my dog walked over and said, it's okay boys, he's with me. The bulldog said, sure, boss, whatever you say boss. For a minute. That seemed like forever. I waded. Then my dog said, I knew you'd find out eventually. Well, now you know, this is my place. I looked around. Finally, I asked, what is this place? My dog said, this. This is a place where dogs come after a hard day. It's a place where we can relax. It's a place where we can talk about our problems with the mailman or with the poodle next door. Seal the sofas. We can sit on the surface here. We can get treats without having to lie down, roll-over or play dead end. If we want to chew on a shoe or Chase or tail, no one will stop us. We have no masters here, no lesions and no rolled up newspapers. This vase is a place where dogs can be Dong's. We sat down with a cocker spaniel, came by and asked me if I would like a bowl of water or some biscuits. Little by little dogs of all kinds started coming in. Some danced, shocked. They looked at me a little funny. But when they saw who I was with, they smile and shook my hand. At 1 my dog wave to an Afghan with the camera. She came over to our table and took a picture of us together. Being with my dog made me feel like a movie star. Just when I was really starting to enjoy myself, I looked at my watch. I told my dog I had to leave or I'd get in trouble. He nodded. I think he was about to say something, but a glamorous greyhound grabbed his pocket and whisked him onto the dance floor. As he was getting up. He tossed me the photo of the two of us, then about slightly and disappeared into the crowd. It was way past my bedtime as I paddled home and the cool night, I thought to myself, now I'm really going to be in the dog house. But then again, that might not be so bad. The end. What you dunk. Yeah, that was really great to actually go home and read this to my dogs. (As provided by SchoolTube video transcript.)
Standards Alignment
Suggested Grade Level: 1-2
The standards listed below are for the 1st and 2nd grades but can easily be modified for other grades.
CCSS.SL.1.1, CCSS.SL.2.1, CCSS.SL.1.2, CCSS.SL.2.2, CCSS.RL.1.1, CCSS.RL.2.1, CCSS.RL.1.5, CCSS.RL.2.5, CCSS.RL.1.1, CCSS.RL.2.1, CCSS.W.1.3, CCSS.W.2.3
View the activity guide here: TheNightIFollowedtheDog
The Night I Followed the Dog,Nina Laden,Amanda Bynes,Storyline Online,Bedtime stories,Children’s Literacy,Literacy,SAG-AFTRA,SAG-AFTRA Foundation,SAG,SAG Foundation,Read Aloud,Reading,Storyline,Storytime,Storytelling,Books,Celebrities,Actors,Actresses,Children’s Books,Children’s Literature,Children’s Lit,Reading Websites,dogs,Hairspray,All That,The Amanda Show,Adventure,Animals,Freedom,Mystery,Humor,Imagination,animated books