Reading to kids books: 8 Delightful Children’s Books That Celebrate Reading
Storyline Online – Home
Jabari Jumps
Read by:
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Clark the Shark
Read by:
Chris Pine
I’m Not Scared, YOU’RE Scared!
Read by:
Seth Meyers
When A Dragon Moves In
Read by:
Mark Duplass
A Tale of Two Beasts
Read by:
Sarah Silverman
Mice Twice
Read by:
Ty Burrell
Library Lion
Read by:
Mindy Sterling
Snappsy The Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book)
Read by:
David Harbour
The Giving Tree
Read by:
Keith Carradine
Please Please the Bees
Read by:
Rashida Jones
Being Frank
Read by:
Bob Odenkirk
Being Frank
Read by:
Bob Odenkirk
The Sound of Silence
Read by:
Simu Liu
My Brother Charlie
Read by:
Holly Robinson Peete
The Giving Tree
Read by:
Keith Carradine
Jabari Jumps
Read by:
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Memoirs of an Elf
Read by:
Sutton Foster
Julius, the Baby of the World
Read by:
Rosario Dawson
Halloween Hustle
Read by:
Joel McHale
La nevera de Maddi
Read by:
Isabella Gomez
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Read by:
Lea Michele
Arnie the Doughnut
Read by:
Chris O’Dowd
As Fast As Words Could Fly
Read by:
Dulé Hill
A Bad Case of Stripes
Read by:
Sean Astin
Being Frank
Read by:
Bob Odenkirk
Brave Irene
Read by:
Al Gore
The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister
Read by:
Connie Britton
Carla’s Sandwich
Read by:
Allison Janney
The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake
Read by:
Wanda Sykes
Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream
Read by:
Kevin Costner & Jillian Estell
Chester’s Way
Read by:
Vanessa Marano & Katie Leclerc
Clark the Shark
Read by:
Chris Pine
The Coal Thief
Read by:
Christian Slater
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Read by:
Chrissy Metz
The Empty Pot
Read by:
Rami Malek
Enemy Pie
Read by:
Camryn Manheim
The Giving Tree
Read by:
Keith Carradine
Guji Guji
Read by:
Robert Guillaume
Halloween Hustle
Read by:
Joel McHale
Hanukkah in Alaska
Read by:
Molly Ephraim
Harry the Dirty Dog
Read by:
Betty White
Henry Holton Takes the Ice
Read by:
Ray Romano
Here Comes the Garbage Barge!
Read by:
Justin Theroux
Hey, That’s MY Monster!
Read by:
Lily Tomlin
The House That Jane Built
Read by:
Kiernan Shipka
How I Learned Geography
Read by:
Ed O’Neill
How I Met My Monster
Read by:
Nancy Cartwright
The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen
Read by:
Oprah Winfrey
I Need My Monster
Read by:
Rita Moreno
If I Ran for President
Read by:
Lonnie Chavis, Parker Bates & Mackenzie Hancsicsak
I’m Not Scared, YOU’RE Scared!
Read by:
Seth Meyers
Jabari Jumps
Read by:
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Julius, the Baby of the World
Read by:
Rosario Dawson
The King of Kindergarten
Read by:
Terry Crews
The Kissing Hand
Read by:
Barbara Bain
The Kiss That Missed
Read by:
Karan Brar
Knots on a Counting Rope
Read by:
Bonnie Bartlett & William Daniels
Library Lion
Read by:
Mindy Sterling
Lotus & Feather
Read by:
Michelle Yeoh
Maddi’s Fridge
Read by:
Jennifer Garner
Me and My Cat?
Read by:
Elijah Wood
Memoirs of an Elf
Read by:
Sutton Foster
Mice Twice
Read by:
Ty Burrell
My Brother Charlie
Read by:
Holly Robinson Peete
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother
Read by:
Melissa Gilbert
Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo
Read by:
John Lithgow
La nevera de Maddi
Read by:
Isabella Gomez
The Night I Followed the Dog
Read by:
Amanda Bynes
No Mirrors in My Nana’s House
Read by:
Tia and Tamera Mowry
No More Noisy Nights
Read by:
Tony Hale
Please Please the Bees
Read by:
Rashida Jones
Private I. Guana
Read by:
Esai Morales
Quackenstein Hatches a Family
Read by:
Kristen Bell
The Rainbow Fish
Read by:
Ernest Borgnine
Remember to Dream, Ebere
Read by:
Cynthia Erivo
Rent Party Jazz
Read by:
Viola Davis
Romeow & Drooliet
Read by:
Haylie Duff
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Read by:
Lea Michele
Sebastian’s Roller Skates
Read by:
Caitlin Wachs
Snappsy The Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book)
Read by:
David Harbour
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch
Read by:
Hector Elizondo
Sophie’s Masterpiece
Read by:
CCH Pounder
The Sound of Silence
Read by:
Simu Liu
Stellaluna
Read by:
Pamela Reed
Strega Nona
Read by:
Mary Steenburgen
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Read by:
Reid Scott
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Read by:
Rose Byrne
A Tale of Two Beasts
Read by:
Sarah Silverman
Thank You, Mr. Falker
Read by:
Jane Kaczmarek
To Be a Drum
Read by:
James Earl Jones
The Tooth
Read by:
Annette Bening
Trombone Shorty
Read by:
Angela Bassett
Turkey Trouble
Read by:
Marc Maron
When A Dragon Moves In
Read by:
Mark Duplass
When Pigasso Met Mootisse
Read by:
Eric Close
White Socks Only
Read by:
Amber Rose Tamblyn
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
Read by:
Bradley Whitford
Los Zombis No Comen Verduras!
Read by:
Jaime Camil
Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies!
Read by:
Jaime Camil
Storyline Online – Library
Storyline Online – Library
Sort by:
Title
- Author
- Reader
- Title
- Run Time
- Publisher
Index:
All
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
{{ title }}
-
Written by:
{{ author }} -
Illustrated by:
{{ illustrator }} -
Published by:
{{ publisher }} -
Read by:
{{ reader }} -
Suggested grade level:
{{ grade_level }} -
Run time:
{{ runtime }} minutes
{{#if hasActivities}}
Activity Guides
-
{{#each activities}}
- For {{ this.for }}
{{#if this.
{{/if}}
{{/each}}
{{/if}}
{{#if buy_link}}
Buy This Book
{{/if}}
How to choose children’s books so that your child loves reading
Reading is not a duty, but a right
Children’s reading experts unanimously say that in order for a child to start reading with pleasure, parents must at least comply with several conditions . The first is to listen carefully to your child, to be interested in what exactly he needs.
“While reading, the child must find answers to his questions. These books can be “wonderful”, unusual from the point of view of parents, filled with kindergarten humor. But if they let the child feel what is written about him, then these are “those” books,” said Ekaterina Asonova, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Sociocultural Educational Practices at Moscow City Pedagogical University.
A child reading specialist explained that it is important for parents to understand “what needs a child can satisfy with the help of a book or what tasks he can solve with it. For example, learn something about your favorite pastime.
Fat shaming, abuse and cruelty. What was in the books from our childhood
According to a survey by the Znanija.com platform, 35% of children borrow books from their home library. When adults…
May 17 11:39
The second condition is related to the situation in the family, in which they want the book to become an integral part of the child’s life. “The more often you read yourself, the more attention your child will pay to books,” says Lilu Rami, art director of the children’s literature publishing house Clever. She also said that she has been reading aloud to her daughter since birth. “A child who is read to from birth will speak faster and be imbued with a love of books,” a representative of the publishing house believes. “When my daughter grows up and the books in her life begin to compete with gadgets, we go to the bookstore with her, I will show her my favorite books from my childhood, we will leaf through the new items together. We will also sign up for the local library and make going to it a family tradition,” Rami explained.
Ekaterina Asonova also believes that visiting the library is one of the ways to get people interested in books.
close
100%
“If a child has grown up with books, the most reliable thing is to go with him to a safe place where he will be allowed to take any books, where he can sit on the floor right next to the shelf, look at the books and feel yourself as freely as possible. The second important point: do not interrogate the child what he likes, but observe his interest. Children are not always able to formulate what they want. And the task of adults is to show that the choice of books is a field in which a child can express himself. Reading should not become a duty, but a right,” emphasized a specialist in children’s reading.
The third condition is complete freedom of choice of books in terms of design and genre. A child may like picture books or comics, and this is an absolutely normal choice not only for a preschooler, but also for older children, including high school students, explained the leading editor of the MIF. Childhood” Elena Abronova.
“Even a picture book can become a book for the first independent reading, but it must necessarily contain an interesting story that can be retold. In comics, the text is usually located in bubbles (“cloud with text” for the speech or thoughts of the hero. – Gazeta.Ru), onomatopoeia is often used – it can be difficult to immediately accept this manner of presentation, so for the very first reading I still advise not a comic . But this is very individual – for example, the children of colleagues “paid off” thanks to the series of comics about Emil and Margot and Hildafolk,” Abronova said.
The editor noted that for a book that starts reading, non-fiction may also be suitable if the child is fond of, for example, dinosaurs or insects, but in this case the text should be adapted for younger children, illustrations are required.
close
100%
Criteria for a “correct” book
Experts are unanimous in their opinion that there is no standard in choosing a book that will start the reading process in a child. Nevertheless, there are several criteria for choosing publications that have every chance to win the heart of a child. These criteria depend on the age of the reader.
So, if we are talking about books for preschoolers or elementary school students, then here you should pay attention to design details, primarily to the font.
“Children do not always need huge fonts that comply with SanPiNs, but still, the font should be selected for a certain age,” said art director Lilu Rami. Also, according to Rami, it is necessary to pay attention to the cover: “We at the publishing house try to do everything to interest even the most selective child, creating beautiful covers.”
Editor Elena Abronova believes that in addition to the font size, a large number of illustrations and a small volume are important for the first book.
“In our publishing house, these are books by Tatyana Russita (“Kot Sock”, “But on my own!”, etc.). The words in them consist of three-four-five letters, short sentences, the books themselves are thin – the child easily reads such a book from cover to cover and receives a sticker. He understands that reading is not difficult, but quite interesting, ”Abronova explained.
In her opinion, for both young children and older children, design can become a gateway to the world of literature.
close
100%
“Style can be the deciding factor when a child decides whether or not to read this book. “Teremok” with illustrations by Igor Oleinikov will help to discover that this fairy tale can be seen in a completely different way … ”, said Asonova, an expert in children’s reading.
Another “trick” that will help attract and keep the child’s attention is the presence of a funny or congenial character. Often publishers of children’s literature offer readers a whole series of books with such characters. The child can’t wait to find out what happened to his favorite character, and he asks his parents to buy him a sequel.
“So, for example, the favorite character of the Clever publishing house, Shmyak the Kitten, became a guide to reading for many children. More than once, while working at book exhibitions, I saw how the children themselves asked what new items we had about Shmyak and listed to their parents what they had already read so that they would not accidentally buy them duplicate copies, ”said a representative of the Clever publishing house.
For older children, there are no criteria as such in choosing books. The art editor of the Polyandria publishing house, Olga Yavich, advised experimenting with genres, looking for characters with whom the child would associate himself, as well as reading aloud a lot and regularly, even if the child has been reading well himself for a long time.
“There are slow books with lots of room for thought and conversation: Keeper of the Moon,” Hope in the Cherry Tree, “Sometimes I Feel…,” “Out of Nowhere. ” There are books that evoke tenderness, tune in to care and sensitivity, for example, The Forgotten Lamb, Thunderstorm. And there are those that will help awaken the imagination, inspire creativity: “The Melody of Life”, “What We Will Build”, “The Game of Architecture,” Yavitch explained, emphasizing that every parent has a search for a book that the child would like, may take varying amounts of time.
On motivation and demotivation influenced by parents
The desire to “inculcate” the habit of reading can fail if the parents put too much pressure on the child. For example, in an attempt to motivate, they say: “But here I am at your age …”. This is not the best way to get interested in reading, Asonova is sure.
“If you set yourself as an example, then it can work exactly the opposite. And it can also be painful for the parent himself if he finds himself in a situation where he has been devalued, ”explained the expert.
close
100%
Another example of an unsuccessful attempt to get children to read books is when parents limit their choice to a home library, albeit a very diverse one.
“You should not think that your library contains everything that is possible, and suggest that your child choose books only from it. Visit libraries, new spaces filled with books. It is possible that the child will find a book there that you already have at home. You shouldn’t be offended by him, it’s better to be glad that he nevertheless found her, ”Asonova recommended.
A reading diary, often recommended in school, can both motivate and discourage reading, especially if parents make it a chore. The art director of the Clever publishing house advised “to keep a reader’s diary, set different goals that it would be interesting for a child to close.”
Who has the best child: how parents compete
More than half of schoolchildren’s parents in Russia do homework instead of their children. The most difficult…
December 09 19:03
Anastasia Yekushevskaya, a psychologist and academic director of the Skysmart online school for children and teenagers, supports the idea that a game element will help to strengthen motivation, for example, rating (maybe comic) books, quests based on favorite works, and books with various interactive elements.
The Devar publishing house has been operating on the Russian book market for a long time. It specializes in printing printed products with augmented reality technology. Such publications represent a symbiosis of a classic book – with text, illustrations – and modern technologies: just point your mobile phone at a page with a special sign, and its characters come to life.
Another way to draw attention to reading is to invite your child to write a book about himself.
“Researchers from Latin America compared the impact on motivation of a non-personalized and personalized book – in the second case, a photograph of the child himself can be pasted into the publication so that the main character is with his face. They noted that a personalized book does affect the motivation to read, but does not guarantee retention of attention to books in the future. But this is already something, this is a way to show a child that a book can be interesting, ”said Asonova, a specialist in children’s reading.
She advised parents to trust their child in choosing literature, not to be frightened if he “gets stuck” on the same books for a long time, and also to remember that “access to culture and knowledge is not limited to books – there are cinemas, museums, theaters, sports , scientific laboratories, nature reserves. All this can become a source of questions, the answers to which the child will then look for in books.
“The task of parents is to make the child’s life happy and provide him with access to knowledge and culture,” the expert concluded.
20 modern children’s books worth reading
Literature section publications
A.P. Gaidara presented the catalog “100 Best New Books for Children and Teens”. Many of the publications included in it were published in Russian for the first time. We have selected 20 of the most fascinating books from this list. Choose your favorite reading: a panorama book about tyrannosaurs, the history of the exploration of Antarctica, or “Beastly Tales” about forest dwellers.
Valentin Serov. Sasha Serov (detail). 1897. Private collection
Non-fiction
Sophie Blackall. If You Come to Earth
Image: ozon.ru
The book If You Come to Earth was created by American artist and illustrator Sophie Blackall. She was inspired by the children she met when she traveled to the Republic of the Congo, India, Rwanda and Bhutan in support of UNICEF and Save the Children. The publication with pictures is a guide to the Earth for an alien from outer space. Sophie Blackall talks about water, weather, birds, clothes, feelings and more. She calls to remember that people on our planet are one family with a common home.
Dougal Dixon. “Tyrannosaurus Rex. Interactive Panorama Book
Image: mann-ivanov-ferber.ru
Dougal Dixon is a British writer and world-famous expert on dinosaurs. He advised the authors of programs and films about prehistoric creatures in America, Great Britain and Japan. His interactive panorama book “Tyrannosaurus Rex” helps to study the structure and lifestyle of one of the largest land predators in the entire history of the Earth. The illustrations for the publication were drawn by the American artist Rachel Caldwell, and it was translated into Russian by Konstantin Rybakov.
Mikhail Savinov. “How Antarctica was discovered”
Image: labirint.ru
In the book “How Antarctica was discovered” historian and writer Mikhail Savinov spoke about the First Russian Antarctic Expedition. In 1819, 190 people set off on a journey through the waters of the Southern Ocean on two sloops – Vostok and Mirny. Their main goal was to find out whether the mysterious sixth continent of the Earth actually exists near the South Pole. The expedition was led by two famous Russian admirals – Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev.
Andrey Dubrovsky. “We live in Ancient Greece. Encyclopedia for Children”
Image: labirint.ru
Historian and writer Andrei Dubrovsky compiled an encyclopedia about the “cradle of Western civilization” — Ancient Greece. The book is divided into chapters that introduce readers to the geography of city-states, Greek gods, mythical heroes and the life of local residents. The encyclopedia also includes stories about the ancient Greek alphabet, the Olympic Games, and great conquerors.
Eugenia Günther. “I am a princess!”
Image: ozon.ru
In the book “I’m a princess!” The writer Eugenia Gunther spoke about 12 fictional princesses from different countries and eras. At the same time, she described with historical accuracy the life of young titled persons from Ancient India, France, Great Britain, the Russian Empire, North Africa and other states. Readers will find out what daily routine the princesses obeyed, what outfits they wore, how their subjects addressed them, and what the future awaited them.
Lubov Novickas. The Decembrists
Image: labirint.ru
Lyubov Novickas collected historical documents, memoirs, essays and excerpts from letters related to the Russian Decembrist movement in the early 19th century in the book The Decembrists. The illustrations for the interactive edition were made by the artists Anna Novoselova-Changa and Anastasia Bezgubova. Each spread is dedicated to a separate event or person associated with the Decembrist uprising. The book has retractable elements and three-dimensional drawings, and it also comes with a board game.
Ksenia Remezova. “The Avangard Train Is Rushing
Image: labirint.ru
Art historian and educator Ksenia Remezova wrote the book The Avangard Train Rushing Together with illustrator Olesya Gonserovskaya. Memoirs, manifestos, contemporaries’ diaries and critics’ reviews of Russian art at the beginning of the 20th century became the basis. The main characters of the book are the artists Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Natalia Goncharova, Vladimir Tatlin. According to Remizova, the impetus for working on the publication was “experiment, search for a language, innovation – everything that accelerated the artistic thought and actions of Russian avant-garde artists” .
Petr Vorotyntsev. “On the stage. The History of the Theatre”
Image: labirint. ru
The book “On Stage. The history of the theater” begins with a story about what a game is in people’s lives in general and how the theater was born in antiquity. The author consistently introduces readers to the main stages in the development of theatrical art and the main world playwrights – William Shakespeare, Jean-Baptiste Moliere and Pierre Corneille. Separate chapters of the publication are devoted to opera, ballet and children’s theaters. The text of the teacher of the history of theater and cinema Pyotr Vorotyntsev is supplemented by illustrations by the artist Alisa Yufa.
Anastasia Strokina. “Chaikovsky. Triumph of Light”
Image: livelib.ru
Children’s writer and translator Anastasia Strokina for her book “Tchaikovsky. Triumph of Light” processed and outlined the biography of the composer. The author spoke in detail about Tchaikovsky’s childhood and the key moments of his life. Separately, she described how the composer created his works. For example, in his last, Sixth Symphony, he “shared the memory of his own life, of the beginning, of doubts and hopes, of success and disappointment, of love and loneliness, of strength and fear, of light and endless darkness. You just need to listen carefully, take your time, trust the music – and it will tell everything so honestly, so truthfully, like no one else can” .
Dina Artyomkina. “Stanislavsky. The first Russian director”
Image: labirint.ru
The author of the biography of the famous theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky was the writer Dina Artyomkina. She explained to readers what theater and performance are, told how young Konstantin Alekseev, who later took the pseudonym Stanislavsky, developed a love for this art form. From this book, children will learn about the first works of Stanislavsky and how, thanks to him, a director’s theater appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century.
Fiction
Bjorn Rörvik.
“Shark Enemy of the Radish and Other Stories about the Fox and the Piglet”
Image: labirint.ru
Norwegian author Bjorn Rørvik has been writing stories about the friendship and adventures of the Fox and the Piglet since 1996. This series received an award from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and has been translated into several languages. Roervik’s heroes are often compared to the characters in Alan Milne’s Winnie the Pooh tale.
The book “The Shark Enemy of the Radish and Other Stories of the Fox and the Piglet” consists of five hilarious stories about finding the cuckoo, riding the royal spit, saving the radish crop, looking for foxes and piglets, and extracting melon yogurt. In Russia, it was translated by Olga Drobot with the support of the NORLA Foundation (Norwegian Literature Abroad).
Konstantin Arbenin. “How I made friends with summer. From the diary of a storyteller”
Image: livelib.ru
The book of the poet, prose writer and musician Konstantin Arbenin “How I made friends with summer. From the storyteller’s diary” consists of 30 stories about miracles that happened to the main character when he arrived at the old village house. The author endows inanimate things with characters, gives plants and weather phenomena their own voices. And colorful illustrations by Olga Kolyadina help to revive the magical world of the writer.
Anna Starobinets. “Beastly Tales”
Image: ozon.ru
In “Beastly Tales” Anna Starobinets tells the backstory of the characters in her “Beastly Detective” series. The book consists of legends, fairy tales, poems and songs that animals in different forests of the world tell and sing to their cubs before going to bed. Here, readers will meet with little Badger Cat, puppy Mukhtarchik, owl brothers Ug and Chuck and other heroes. The stories are intended for children of primary and secondary school age.
Miriam Daman, Nicolas Digard. “The Secret of the Wolf”
Image: labirint.ru
“Far, far away in the north stood a forest, dense and forgotten by everyone” – this is how the book “The Secret of the Wolf” by French writers Miriam Daman and Nicolas Digarde begins. They beat the plot of the famous fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood in a new way. The story runs in parallel: the authors of the book tell the story of the Wolf, and the artist Giulia Sarda shows the life of the heroine, a young woman who takes care of her sick father. When creating illustrations, Sarda was inspired by the work of the Russian artist Ivan Bilibin.
Anna Dyer. “Let’s go to Unalashka”
Image: labirint.ru
The main character of Anna Dyer’s book “Let’s go to Unalashka” is a boy named Mark, nicknamed Morkovkin. He starts his own detective investigation to find out everything about his grandfather. The writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya recommended this work as follows: “Finally, the first modern children’s book of the 21st century has appeared in Russia. Not a fairy tale, not a detective, but a wonderful story of today’s boy. It’s impossible to get away from her!”
Jakob Wegelius. Esperanza
Image: chitai-gorod.ru
Readers are familiar with the work of the Swedish author Jakob Vegelius based on the book about the adventures of a talking monkey, The Truth About Sally Jones. For it, the writer was awarded the August Strindberg Prize. The book “Esperanza” was written and illustrated by Vegelius in 1999, but it was published in Russia only in 2020.
The main character, street juggler Khalidon, is looking for his missing friend Captain. Throughout the story, he does not lose hope (this is how the title of the book is translated from Spanish).
Alexey Oleinikov. You Can’t Stay to Run
Image: labirint.ru
You Can’t Stay to Run is a collection of stories about refugee teenagers and their families, all based on real events. The text was prepared by the writer Alexey Oleinikov, and the illustrations were made by students of the Higher School of Economics. The book tells about the difficulties that forced migrants had to face, and contains a reminder on how to help those who find themselves in a similar situation.
Evgenia Dvoskina. “Will Sasha come out?” Soviet childhood in stories and pictures”
Image: ozon. ru
Evgenia Dvoskina is a member of the Union of Artists of Russia and the International Federation of Artists. Since the 1980s, she has illustrated publications by Astrid Lindgren, Nikolai Nosov, Yuri Koval, Ksenia Dragunskaya and many others. For the book “Will Sasha come out?” Soviet childhood in stories and pictures” Dvoskina drew 110 pictures with commentary stories. In the life of its heroes there are leggings and a biting sweater, filmstrips and horror stories, nets and pioneer ties, boiled condensed milk and Vzlyotnye sweets. The book will introduce modern children to what surrounded their parents and older relatives in the past.
Wilson Rawls. “Where the fern is red”
Image: labirint.ru
The worldwide circulation of the book “Where the fern is red” by the American writer Wilson Rawls amounted to more than 14 million copies. This is a classic coming-of-age novel set in the 1930s during the Great Depression. It tells about the adventures of the boy Bill Colman and his two hunting dogs – Little Ann and Old Dan.