Humans In-Training: Book Review of New Children’s Puppy Book

Whether your kids have a dog or want a dog, this fun new book from Brooke Van Sickle and Elizabeth Savanella is a great peek into life with a puppy. In this book review of Humans In-Training, I’ll share the story background, our review, and some ideas for expanding this new puppy book for kids.

I was given a free copy of “Humans In-Training” in exchange for sharing my honest review. Additionally, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to shop through those links, you support Lovin’ Life with Littles at no additional cost to you. You can read my Full Disclosure Policy. Thank you for you support!

A New Puppy Book for Kids

Humans In-Training by Brooke Van Sickle is the story of Kobe, a Labradoodle puppy. He is excited to join his new family but soon discovers that it takes some time for puppies and humans to train each other.

Among other things, Kobe’s humans need to learn to wake-up early, pay attention on their walks, and clean-up those socks and underwear!

With practice, both Kobe and his humans get into the rhythm of life with a puppy. The ending brings a surprise and giggle!

Book Review of Humans In-Training

If your kids have a puppy or want a puppy, this is a great book for you!

The story is told from the puppy’s point of view, which is a really fun perspective. It helps kids see the lively, playful nature of puppies.

The illustrations by Elizabeth Savanella are vibrant and my kids loved them. Kobe especially is a cuddly, lovable puppy! The drawings add a lot to the story.

My younger kids don’t have very much exposure to puppies (or even dogs in general) yet, so the first time reading some parts were hard for them to follow what was going on from the dog’s perspective. However, as we talked about the pictures and what Kobe and the humans were thinking and doing, the story made a lot more sense and was very entertaining.

This book was a fun way for my kids to peek into life with a puppy! I also appreciate that it doesn’t romanticize dog-care but realistically represents it in an entertaining and engaging way.

My daughter thought the book was really funny and has asked to read it again and again.

If you have a puppy or are getting a puppy I highly recommend adding Humans In-Training to your book collection. Additionally, it’s a great book for anyone who likes puppies!

Click image for purchasing information.

Expansion Ideas for This Children’s Puppy Book

A great way to increase reading comprehension and have an enjoyable time together is to expand the books we read with our preschoolers. A simple framework for thinking of ideas is to talk, sing, write, and play around what we read. Humans In-Training lends itself really well to some super fun related activities.

Talk about Responsibility and Puppies

Discuss the word responsibility. What does responsibility mean? What are some of the responsibilities that come with having a puppy? Talk together about which of those responsibilities your child thinks (or knows from experience) are fun or hard.

Sing about Dogs

Sing and dance along to How Much is that Doggie in the Window. This was one of our favorite family songs when I was growing up.

Write or Color about the Story

Write a list of responsibilities or make a puppy care chart if you have a dog. You could also draw pictures about the story or download the free coloring pack from the publisher and color pictures from the story.

Play Games about Dogs

Here are three fun ideas for playing:

1.) Doggie, Doggie, Where’s Your Bone?

There are several variations of this game, and you can see one example of a class playing the game here. This is great if you have a group of kids. When we play with only two or three of us, we take turns hiding the bone around the room, and then the doggie has to find it.

2.) I Have a Little Doggie and He Won’t Bite You Game

This is a classic game my mother-in-law taught us. The game is similar to Duck, Duck, Goose. Everyone stands in a circle, except one person. That person holds a handkerchief and walks around the circle tapping players with the handkerchief and saying, “I have a little doggie and he won’t bite you, and he won’t bite you, and he won’t bite you, etc.,” until the players says, “But he will bite YOU!”

The player then drops the handkerchief and runs around the circle to replace the chosen player. Whoever was chosen picks up the handkerchief and chases to tag the original person before he or she sits down.

3.) Play Pretend Dogs

This is what we did! My kids love pretending to be dogs and playing fetch. Of course, if you have a dog you could also take her for a walk or go to the park together.

Humans In-Training is a great new book about puppies for kids. It’s funny and relatable to puppy-owners. It also leads to many fun connected activities. I hope this book review of Humans In-Training has been helpful!

Does your family have a favorite puppy book? Are you thinking about getting a dog? If you already have one, how do you help your kids train and take care of your pet? Please share in the comments!

Do You Want More Great Reads or Ideas for Preschoolers?

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