Pinkerton, Behave! is about a dog named Pinkerton who does not follow commands. He goes to obedience school, but still does not follow command such as fetch, come, or catch the burglar. Pinkerton is dismissed from obedience school because he disrupts the class and teaches the other dogs to do the wrong things. One night, a burglar comes to Pinkerton’s house. Will Pinkerton be able to use what he learned to protect his family from the burglar? Find out in Pinkerton, Behave!
Pinkerton, Behave! is a controversial children’s book. I did not think the book was controversial until the end. The first part of the book is about a dog that does not know how to follow simple commands. Pinkerton represents many dogs that we know and love. The first half of the book is actually pretty funny. The controversial part of the book comes to play when a burglar breaks into a house through a bedroom window, and threatens the mother in the book by pointing a gun at her. This may be traumatic for some children, seeing both a robber, and a gun being pointed at a mother. This may cause children to be scared and have nightmares. I do not think this is a good book for young children to read, unless their parents are okay with it. I think many children would become scared, especially if this book was read to them before bed. I think this book would be okay for older children to read. They are less likely to get scared. Also, robbers and guns are portrayed in the media. It is unlikely that a child has not seen either a robber or gun on television, in a movie, in other books, or any other form of media. The robber and gun in this book will most likely not be the first time they have encountered these topics. The text in this book is simple, and goes along great with the illustrations. The illustrations are colorful and detailed, and take up the majority of the pages. Overall, I believe this book is controversial due to the fact that there is a robber and a gun pointed at a mother portrayed in the book. I think it is up to individual teachers and parents to decide if this book is appropriate for children. Pinkerton, Behave! is a book that I would be okay with having in my classroom as long as I was teaching older elementary school children. It is not a book I would choose for a read aloud or recommend to my students. There are many other great children’s picture books about dogs that I would recommend first.
I would be interested in seeing the picture that you mentioned. I think that there is so much violence in the media today that we should do everything to just keep it out of the schools as much as we can. But thats just my point of view. kids already are decensitized to violence as it is so I can see why a lot of kids won't find it a big deal but it just doens't have a place in my room.
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