''Circle Dogs'' is a children's picture book written by

Kevin Henkes Kevin Henkes (born November 27, 1960) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for ''Kitten's First Full Moon'' (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, ''Olive's Ocea ...

and illustrated by

Dan Yaccarino Dan Yaccarino (born May 20, 1965) is an American author, illustrator, and television producer, who is famous for his animated series, children's books and award-winning imagery. Biography Born in Montclair, NJ, Yaccarino was influenced by a comb ...

. It was published in 1998 by

Greenwillow Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

. The story is about a day in the life of two

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: "badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety of c ...

s (the titular "circle dogs", so called because of the shape they make when sleeping) and the family they live with.

Awards and reception

The book was named a Charlotte Zolotow Award "Highly Commended Title" in 1999, being praised for its description of life with playful dogs as seen by a young child, "illustrations hatare at once sophisticated and childlike", and overall "old-fashioned feel", comparing it to the writing of

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

. The book also received a positive review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', with James McMullan calling it "an evocative piece of writing that would be a joy to read aloud to a child." He also praised the illustrations, but felt that they were not necessarily a good match for the story.

References

{{reflist 1998 children's books American picture books Children's fiction books Books about dogs Greenwillow Books books