Books like Good Dog, Carl
By Alexandra Day
There's no text in Good Dog, Carl, so your kid ends up telling you the story instead of the other way around, pointing and narrating what Carl and the baby are up to on every page. That's the real trick: a picture book toddlers can run themselves. The books below give them more of that same job.
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood shares that funny mood and the same heart for responsibility with Good Dog, Carl.
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann has that same wordless mischief where you have to read the pictures, not the text, to catch what's really happening.
The joy of a wild adventure at home carries over, and We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen adds a chant your kid will demand word for word.
The babysitting job goes wrong in both books, but Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola raises the stakes to a house buried in pasta.
Another dog who means well and still causes a scene, but Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell spells out in words what Carl only shows you in pictures.
No dog, no baby, no story really. Animalia by Graeme Base keeps the pore-over-every-page joy and turns it into a hunt for hidden things.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr shares that funny mood and the same big feelings around joy with Good Dog, Carl.
Kids who love watching a dog get into things will follow Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd down the street, rhyme by rhyme, right into a scare.
Reach for The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss once your kid wants actual words with that same left-alone-and-everything-goes-sideways feeling.
Less slapstick, more heart. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson turns the mischief-and-mayhem formula into a story about friends who show up for you.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff shares that funny mood and the same big feelings around joy with Good Dog, Carl.
Skip this one if your kid needs pictures to tell the story. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss runs entirely on rhyme, not visual gags.
