Fred Stays With Me!

by Nancy Coffelt, Tricia Tusa (Illustrator)

Overview

A poignant picture book about a young girl, who in the face of her parents' divorce, turns to the one constant in her life-her dog Fred.

Sometimes I live with my mom. Sometimes I live with my dad. But Fred stays with me.

Told from the point of view of a young child whose parents are divorced, Fred Stays with Me follows a girl and her dog, Fred, from one parent's house to the other's, giving her a sense of continuity and stability. With a simple text and childlike language, the story expresses and addresses a child's concerns, highlights the friendship between child and pet, presents a common ground for the parents, and resolves conflict in a positive way. Tricia Tusa's charming and whimsical artwork adds a light, happy feel to this poignant—but not overly sentimental—story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316077910
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	430L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nancy Coffelt is the author/illustrator of the several picture books for Harcourt: The Dog Who Cried Woof; Good Night, Sigmund; Tom's Fish; and Dogs in Space. She began writing and painting children's books when she started a family of her own. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Tricia Tusa has written and illustrated several acclaimed picture books, including Mrs. Spitzer's Garden; Maebelle's Suitcase; Camilla's New Hairdo; Bunnies in My Head, which features drawings by young patients at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; and our own Wing Nuts. She lives in New Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

The word "divorce" is never uttered in this charming story of a young girl who sometimes lives with her mom, and sometimes with her dad, but who never leaves the side of her affable dog Fred. The differences in the girl's two homes are presented matter-of-factly, as is the common denominator of both household experiences-mom and dad alike are frustrated with Fred by day's end: "What am I going to do with this dog?" each parent asks, as the dog barks at mom's neighbor's poodle or eats dad's socks. When both parents insist the dog can't stay, the little girl, standing in a literal and figurative spotlight, states defiantly, "Excuse me . . . Fred doesn't stay with either of you. Fred stays with ME!" All ends well, as the families devise ways to manage Fred's canine idiosyncrasies. It all sounds simple enough, but Coffelt offers a fresh, villain-free look at a split family-and at a girl who finds strength, love and reassuring consistency in the dear pooch who is all her own. Tusa's winning, soft-edged, autumnally hued watercolor illustrations perfectly complement the quiet story, infusing humor and chaos into the more understated text. A gem. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

A 2008 ALA Notable Children's Book

*"...Coffelt offers a fresh, villain-free look at a split family-and at a girl who finds strength, love and reassuring consistency in the dear pooch who is all her own....A gem."—Kirkus, starred review

...a nice choice for pet-loving families, divorced or not, to share ."—Parent's Choice

From the Publisher