School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This early reader series features dog siblings Digger and Daisy. In Picnic, Daisy stops to look at things, while Digger likes to smell them. Daisy tells him the name of different objects that catch his attention: flowers, a lemon tree, pie on the neighbor's windowsill, and hot dogs on a grill. When Digger explores a golf hole, his nose is filled with dirt, and he cannot smell any of their picnic food, but his nose recovers as they approach home and encounter a skunk. In Zoo, Digger tries to copy the animals. He falls over when he tries to stand on one leg like the flamingo, attempts to climb a tree like the monkeys, wants to eat leaves from a tree like the giraffes, and learns to swim in a pond like the ducks. The books feature large a font, with lines that are short and easy to scan, and the bold, cartoon illustrations cheerfully reinforce the text with ample picture clues. Young readers will enjoy sharing these excursions.-Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Dogs Digger and his sister, Daisy, star in these two tension-free entries for beginning readers. Digger enjoys smelling things in the park, but his nose eventually gets him into trouble (Picnic). Digger tries to imitate the zoo animals, but it's not until he and Daisy visit the duck pond that he's successful (Zoo). The cheery illustrations are mildly diverting. [Review covers these I Am a Reader! titles: Digger and Daisy Go on a Picnic and Digger and Daisy Go to the Zoo.] (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In Digger and Daisy's second outing, Digger learns that--all appearances to the contrary--sometimes it is best to have a nose full of dirt. Digger and Daisy, the two chummy canine siblings--as canine siblings, unlike certain other species, are wont to be--decide to go for a picnic. While Daisy is happy to take in nature with her eyes, her younger brother likes to exercise his nose. The words in this early reader have a nice levitating quality, even in the unlikeliest of places--"Digger likes to smell everything. He puts his nose in the hole. Digger sniffs. He sniffs dirt up his nose. Digger snuffs. He snuffs more dirt up his nose"--which make them fun to engage with. After Digger has gotten a good whiff of the flowers and the cooling pie and the franks on the grill, all of which raise a note of concern from Daisy for one reason or another, and after Digger gets his nose clogged for being, as it were, too nosy, the story reverses gears. It retraces its steps but now with the world of scent closed to Digger's jam-packed nostrils. It's almost Shakespearean, until the skunk arrives on the scene, its dashing black-and-white look a fine counterpart to the waxy crayon sheen of the rest of Sullivan's artwork. A stink can come between the coziest of siblings from time to time, but rarely are they so sweet as Daisy and Digger. (Early reader. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
