Down Girl and Sit: On the Road

By Lucy Nolan; Illustrated by Mike Reed

Bluebonnet Nominee

Down Girl and Sit are best-friend-dogs that like to chase squirrels, don’t like cats, and like to ride in the car. 

Down Girl and Ruff are interested in having fun, like kissing people, playing, chasing cats, and exploring, but Ruff, Down Girl’s master, just wants to go to the beach and relax, so this poses a series of mishaps for him.

This book is actually four vignettes on the adventures of Down Girl, not one story, but each vignettes is complete,  fun, and interesting and Down Girl’s character is portrayed with hilarious consistency.

If there is a climax to this story, it is when, after her final adventure in the book, she heads home and says, “Here’s the funny thing about roads. It doesn’t matter how scary they are. If you turn your car around and follow them in the other direction, they always take you home.”  Down Girl goes home with Ruff after her final scary adventure. Down Girl is safe with Ruff.

Down Girl’s character has a lot of depth and would be a good way to help develop lower-grade readers’ ability to identify characterization. The book is written from Down Girl’s point of view and it is a good way to show how one character’s story can be told in a vastly different way from another character’s. 

Nolan, L. (2005). Down Girl and Sit: On the Road. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation.