Out for a Walk

A Good Night Walk
by Elisha Cooper

A child and parent decide to take a walk one evening along their block to see what they can see before bedtime. The lady next door is done with her gardening and is resting on her wheelbarrow. A pair of squirrels are chattering with one another in the big oak tree. Then they watch as the squirrels make their way over toward a bird feeder that one of the neighbors has hung on their porch. There is also a black-and-white cat that is moving into the shade of an apple tree. There also seem to be some good apple pie smells coming from one of the neighbors’ houses, while other neighbors are finishing up the yard work and putting mowed grass into the trash can. What do the two see on their walk back home? What other things do you see going on in the pictures? Are these the kinds of activities that you see when you go for a walk around your neighborhood?

Please Take Me for a Walk
by Susan Gal

A dog asks his owner to please take him for a walk. There are many things that this dog needs to do while on a walk. He needs to chase away the neighbor’s cat, and keep the squirrels up in the tree. He also likes to say hello to the neighbors and be petted, though some neighbors do not want to. There are a lot of people that the dog needs to say hello to, such as the florist, greengrocer, baker, bookseller, and especially the butcher. The dog would also like to catch balls, get Frisbees, and race to the water fountain. What other activities is the dog looking forward to? What kinds of things do you do with your dog while you are on a walk together? Does your dog like to do some of these things, too?

Lily Takes a Walk
by Satoshi Kitamura

Lily likes to go on walks with her dog, Nicky. They sometimes walk for hours until it is almost dark. Lily is not scared on her walks, because she has Nicky with her. She does not even notice when Nicky is protecting her from all of the monsters that you can see in the pictures. Today, Lily is doing the shopping for her mother, while Nicky is protecting her from the mailbox monster. Then she stops to show Nicky the evening star, and she tells him that it is the Dog Star. Nicky is too busy taking care of the bridge monster to notice. Lily waves at Mrs. Hall’s window as she walks past. What kind of monster is Nicky seeing now? She also sees some bats on her way home, while Nicky is taking care of another monster? What does this one look like? What is he doing? Does Lily make it home safely with Nicky protecting her? Does she ever notice any of the things that Nicky protects her from? What kinds of monsters did you see in the pictures?

The Dawdlewalk
by Tobi Tobias and pictures by Jeanette Swofford

Every morning a little boy and his mother walk to school together. The little boy likes to stop and look at things, such as the sparrows that are eating breakfast and drinking some water. The mother tells the boy to stop dawdling, so they can make it to school on time. So they start walking again, when the little boy stops to look in the window of the supermarket. He sees all of his favorite cereals, when his mom tells him that they need to hurry to make it before the light changes colors. After walking a little longer, the boy stops to look in the bakery at the fat black-and-white cat that lives there. The cat looks up at the boy, just as his mother tells him that they need to keep going. What other kinds of things will the little boy and his mother see on the way to school? Will it only be the little boy who stops to do something? Will they be able to make it on time?