A cute children's book, written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann, about Officer Buckle, a police officer who gives talks on safety to elementary school children, and his dog Gloria. He's a really boring speaker, and his talks put all the children to sleep, until one day he is accompanied by his police dog, Gloria. Gloria mimes the dire consequences of acting imprudently, and captures the attention of the audience. Suddenly they are wide awake, laughing and cheering. When Officer Buckle learns that it is Gloria that the children are so excited he wants to give up the talks, but in the end he sees that team work is the best way to go. The book won the 1996 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a children's book.


Officer Buckle is pretty sure he's the hotshot star of the show, till he sees his performance captured on video.

Peggy Rathmann says:   "We have a videotape of my mother chatting in the dining room while, unnoticed by her or the cameraman, the dog is licking every poached egg on the buffet. The next scene shows the whole family at the breakfast table, complimenting my mother on the delicious poached eggs. The dog, of course, is pretending not to know what a poached egg is. The first time we watched that tape we were so shocked, we couldn't stop laughing. I suspect that videotape had a big influence on my choice of subject matter."

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