A Greyhound, a Groundhog

Friendship comes in all shapes and sizes. Emily Jenkins’ new picture book, A Greyhound, a Groundhog, is a tongue twister about two unlikely friends: a greyhound and a groundhog.

As you read it aloud, the speed of the words (and the illustrations) increases until the two friends (and your tongue) are all topsy-turvy.

“A groundhog, a greyhound,

a round little

greyhound.

A greyhound, a groundhog,

a brown little

groundhog.”

And so it continues, around and around, the greyhound chases his tail, then he chases the groundhog, until they collapse on a heap on the ground, happy as can be.

Chris Appelhans (illustrator of Sparky) drew the beautiful illustrations in this book. His illustrations have a lot of energy and movement, and they complement the text perfectly. It is almost as if the movement of the greyhound and groundhog occurs as the story is being read aloud.

This book will become a staple in your child’s library, and you will be asked to read it again and again (probably at faster and faster speeds) until you can no longer say the words in the correct order. But that is part of the fun! Start 2017 with an exciting read-aloud that will have you and your child learning a new tongue twister about new friends.