Cock-a-doodle Dudley, written and illustrated by Bill Peet for kids 4-8 years old, is a tale about real friendship and the extremes friends will go to, to show they care.

A little "scraggly-tailed runt of a rooster" named Dudley lived on a farm with his friends. They were nice animals, friendly and neighborly, just like Dudley, but they weren't too smart. Somehow they got the idea that Dudley's crowing was magical. They actually believed that unless Dudley crowed, the sun wouldn't come up in the morning.

Dudley knew that wasn't true. He knew he crowed because the sun came up each morning, not the other way around. He decided he had tell his friends that he was only an ordinary rooster, nothing more--no magical powers, nothing.

Poor Dudley was scared his friends wouldn't be his friends any more after they learned the truth. What would they think of him once they found out the sun came up all by itself, whether he crowed or not?

It takes courage to face anyone, your friends included, and say you're not really as special as they think you are, or that you didn't do something they think you did, but real friends don't care what you can or can't do. Real friends only care about how you act. Will Dudley discover that he has real friends?

As you read Bill Peet's Cock-a-doodle Dudley to your children, they'll find the answer to that question, and more, when you help them explore the concept of friendship. For that matter, what are real friends, and how do real friends act?

• Do they defend you when they think lies are being told about you?
• Do they try to cheer you up when you're unhappy?
• Do they get angry, or get even, if you're picked on by a bully?
• Do they go out of their way to help you?

A secondary issue is jealousy and envy. Jealousy can be defined as being resentful (I want what you have), and envy as being maliciously resentful (If I can't have it, neither will you!).

Poor Gunther the friendless barnyard goose. His jealousy and envy of the little rooster's friends blinded him to the fact that whether or not the barnyard animals liked Dudley had nothing to do with their feelings about him. Gunther didn't understand that his attitude towards others determined their attitudes toward him.

Will a young child understand this concept? Perhaps, perhaps not, but there's no rule that says you can't point out to your child that a grumpy, grouchy, mean-spirited outward display often hides an inner jealousy. Sometimes that jealousy curdles the soul further until it's replaced by envy. That's what happened to Gunther the barnyard goose. Will he pay a price for it? Hmmm...

Closing notes

Bill Peet's illustrations for Cock-a-doodle Dudley look like a combination of crayons and colored pencils. His artistic style, as usual, is cartoonishly (I know there's no such word!) comical which makes them so easily understood by kids of all ages (which includes grownups!) Cock-a-doodle Dudley is a picture book which means that most of the page is covered with one of Bill Peet's illustrations.

Cock-a-doodle Dudley was first published in 1990, but neither it, nor Bill Peet's gently funny stories, will ever go out of date. His fables are delightful. (Fable: A narration intended to enforce a useful truth; especially: one in which animals speak and act like human beings. Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary)

If you'd like to learn more about Bill Peet, you can go to your favorite merchant, or to your local library's Biography section in the Children's Room, and get a copy of Bill Peet: An Autobiography.

(If you'd like to, please go to my member page and read my review of Bill Peet: An Autobiography, or insert this address in your browser's address bar: [ http://www.epinions.com/book-review-7661-620B727-3A2AC427-prod1 ]. Thank you.)

Final notes

Bill Peet's Cock-a-doodle Dudley is available as:

• a paperback of 48 pages (Dimensions [in inches]: 0.19 x 9.72 x 8.30), published by Houghton Mifflin Co. (Juv) in April 1993 as a Reissue edition, ISBN: 0395657458, reading level: 4-8 years old, list price $8.95 US

Paperbacks are great to order in advance, or grab at the last minute, to take along on a trip. If you're lucky enough to live in the sunny South, they're great at the beach, too! If you have an only child, or your children are very careful with books, paperbacks are the way to go...

• a hardback of 48 pages (Dimensions [in inches]: 0.49 x 10.07 x 8.90), published by Houghton Mifflin Co. (Juv) in September 1990, ISBN: 0395553318 (School & Library Binding), reading level: 4-8 years old, list price $16.00 US

A hardcover book, if its price is within your budget, is an excellent choice for a large family that will pass a book from child to child, or for an only child who treasures books and reads them over, and over, and over again! Whenever you see the notation School & Library Binding, be assured that it's a sturdily bound book, one suitable for many, many readings and rough handling such as it would receive in a library or school.

From the copyright page: "Summary: Dudley the rooster's ability to make the sun rise with his crowing is questioned by a spiteful goose, whose malice almost destroys the popular rooster."

By the way, when your children outgrow this book, if you're not planning to save it for the grandkids, you can recycle it at your local library. Did you know that most libraries accept used books in good condition to:

• add a new book title to their shelves
• replace their worn-out copy of that title, or
• sell to raise money,
and the IRS accepts your book gifts to libraries as charitable donations?

How about that? I know donated books make a big difference at my small library.




Recommended: Yes