West Coast Loan Officers

Officer Buckle & Gloria (Caldecott Medal Book)

Description

Officer Buckle puts everyone to sleep with his painfully dull if informative lectures on safety, until he takes on a new partner, Gloria, Napville's new police dog, who knows just how to liven up Officer Buckle's safety speeches. BOMC.

Officer Buckle is a roly-poly bloke, dedicated to teaching schoolchildren important safety tips, such as never put anything in your ear and never stand on a swivel chair. The problem is, Officer Buckle's school assemblies are dull, dull, dull, and the children of Napville just sleep, sleep, sleep. That is, until Gloria the police dog is invited along! Stealthily pantomiming each safety tip behind Officer Buckle's back, Gloria wins the children's hearts. Meanwhile Officer Buckle assumes the cheers and laughter are all for him. As the master comedian Jerry Lewis once explained, every slapstick artist needs a straight man! Children will be highly entertained by the laugh-out-loud, adorable illustrations in this 1996 Caldecott Medal winner, while learning the value of teamwork and a pawful of nifty safety tips. (Ages 4 to 8) --Gail Hudson

Reviews

Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-03-06
Summary: "Completely predictable"

Now, I will say, before I start, that my nieces are fans of this book. They think Gloria's dramatic enactments of safety warnings is a real hoot.

I think the story is predictable. Nerdy Officer Buckle goes to public schools and gives safety lectures that nobody - NOBODY - listens to. They're boring. As he's done, you can see the principal blithely ignoring his advice (never stand on a rolling chair!) even as she's thanking him for coming and he's warning her about her impending topplement.

This all changes when Officer Buckle gets a dog, Gloria. Gloria comes to the lectures and gives amazing shows of what Officer Buckle is saying. Everybody listens, everybody writes (including one girl who wears a crash helmet... everywhere?), it's great. Until Officer Buckle finds out and gets upset. He huffs off, there's a big disaster, he learns to "Stick by your buddy" and everybody is happy, wow, I never saw that coming. (Wait - yeah, I did, and I said so already.)

The illustrations are funny, and Gloria's antics are hilarious. The writing is... so-so, though, and the moral is so predictable you could see it within the first two pages. And the safety advice... You see, you can see the tips throughout the book and on the cover. Some of them - never play with matches, wash your hands after using the toilet - are great advice. Some of them - never play in the microwave oven, never swim in a storm sewer - are probably good advice, but when are they likely to come up? (Well, this is why Officer Buckle is so boring, I guess.) And some of them are bad advice, and this irritates me. Always wear a crash helmet (even in school? Apparently, yes.) Never stand up on a moving bus (and so all buses will operate at 50% of capacity forever and you'll never get to work).

It's not a bad book, and the art does make it funny, but it's not Rathman's best by a long shot.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-03-04
Summary: "Entertaining and Educational"



This is a great book, especially for kids beginning to read on their own. It MUST be told useing the illustrations (which are hilarious) as well as the words. Has a good lesson about how jealousy ruins friendship, and ends happily because Officer Buckle realizes that, while he's not much of an entertainer, he can be a good friend to Gloria. There are safety tips with funny pictures of Gloria on each one on the front and back pages of the book, at least on my edition. Great way to help kids learn about safety without boring or scaring them.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-02-26
Summary: "A hoot"

We love this book. It is so funny. It's certain to engage your little one and have you laughing together. I got it for my kindergartener, but my second grader loves it, too. It's just funny.

As a mom, I like how it teaches (subtly) about jealousy between friends. In the end, Officer Buckle and Gloria are only dynamite when they are together as a team.

And hearing my little ones laugh is always a joy.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-02-21
Summary: "For first level readers"

My 6 year old daughter enjoyed this book. Here is her review:
I really liked this book because Gloria performed tricks when Officer Buckle was reading to the kids about safety tips. Gloria performed the tricks to keep the kids interested in what he was trying to teach them. Before Officer Buckle used Gloria in his safety tips, none of the kids would listen, some even snored. Gloria made Officer Buckle popular and the kids started listening to what he was trying to tell them about being safe. Officer Buckle gets jealous about the attention that Gloria gets and he sends Gloria to give the safety tips without him. While Gloria is at the school, she just sits on stage and falls asleep. There is an accident at the school and the next day, Officer Buckle gets letters telling him about it. Officer Buckle realizes his last safety tip, "Always stick with your buddy!"

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-01-17
Summary: "Officer Buckle & Gloria"

I highly recommend anything written by Peggy Rathman. A great story, delightfully illustrated. Adults who have the pleasure of reading this and her other books will enjoy seeing "easter egg" connections to them all.