Good Dog, Carl

Good Dog, Carl is the eponymous name of the first of a series of children's picture books written and illustrated by Alexandra Day centering on a Rottweiler named Carl and a little girl named Madeleine, of whom he takes care. All of the books are mostly wordless, relying on the details of the illustrations to tell the stories. Good Dog, Carl was published in 1985 and has been continually in print since that date. There have been fourteen "Carl" titles after the first. All but the first have been published by Farrar Straus Giroux. The board book versions of these stories are particularly popular. In addition to the children and Rottweiler fanciers who have enjoyed them, the books have been found useful in teaching English as a second language, with Alzheimer's patients, and with children who are having difficulty learning to read.