Author: Peggy Rathmann (Illustrator).
Napville has one of the world's greatest treasures -- Officer Buckle. Officer Buckle is an officer who cares about and loves children. No one knows more about safety than Officer Buckle does. He goes to schools and teaches children about safety. Sadly, whenever he gives his safety tips, nobody listens. In fact, some of the children fall asleep. But they sleep no more when the police force assigns Buckle a partner named Gloria. .
Gloria is a police dog who goes wherever Officer Buckle goes. She helps with the safety lectures. Unaware of Gloria's hysterical antics that correspond to the safety tip being given, Officer Buckle suddenly has the audience's full attention! Now everyone wants to hear Officer Buckle's safety tips, "and please, bring along that police dog" (Rathmann 16). .
Officer Buckle begins to feel used after watching Gloria's actions on the news. He vows never to trust a friend again, especially Gloria. After a terrible accident at the school and a special note from one student, her friend, Officer Buckle, once again accepted Gloria. He then comes up with his best safety tip. Safety tip #101: "always stick with your buddy" (Rathmann 31). .
Evaluation:.
Peggy Rathmann is a master at illustrating how important teamwork is. She does just that in Officer Buckle and Gloria. Her imaginative approach to gaining the reader's interest in safety makes a usually unexciting and uninteresting subject pleasant and enticing. Colors and cartoon-like characters are used to bring the safety tips to life.
Perfectly illustrated facial expressions are presented on each page to ensure the character's feelings and personalities are truly understood by the reader. For example, when Officer Buckle is giving lectures by himself, the children are either playing or sleeping. The faces look bored and dull. When Gloria is brought on stage, the children are wide-eyed and smiling.