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Is It Okay For Us To Play? is a charming rhyming picture book that helps young readers learn how to safely interact with the family dog. Through catchy, easy-to-remember rhymes and vibrant, playful illustrations, this book teaches important safety rules in a fun and engaging way. Perfect for families with pets, it’s a must-read for helping children build respectful, safe, and loving relationships with their furry friends—right at home.
Catherine’s journey into educating families began over fifteen years ago, after she saw the impact of a dog bite incident featured in the news. Since then, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness through art and storytelling, drawing inspiration from classic children’s books and a deep study of animal behaviour.
Writing and illustration have played an important role in her own recovery from a serious illness that left her disabled. Her assistance dogs, Bambi and Bywyd, not only supported her through that time but also helped inspire the illustrations in this book. Catherine combines heartfelt creativity with a passion for safety and understanding between children and animals, making her work both meaningful and engaging for families.
This should be required reading - This is a wonderful book to introduce safe interactions between people and dogs. The words are easy to read and understand and not demeaning to the reader. The illustrations are beautifully done. You can see the love that went into creating this book! I donated my copy to our local Humane Society to use for their summer programs with kids and it has been a hit there, too. Next time a friend or family member with kids gets a dog, they are being gifted a copy of this book too!
Great book for teaching children how to interact with dogs. Well illustrated and easy to read. Really stands out from the recent run of AI slop on amazon.
Well written learning book for young children - This book is very well written and captures attention of young children easily. The illustrations are cute and draw kids in and the writing style is easy for smaller children to understand. Even my older children enjoyed reading the book and knew the lessons it teaches are great to learn.
Could help in preventing unwanted incidents between children and pets. This book teaches safe dog interactions for children. The illustrations are attention grabbing without overstimulating. A great choice for bedtime or classroom reading.
Excellent Writing - This book is truly amazing granddaughter loves it great explanation
Excellent book to help young children get used to interacting with dogs. My son loved it.
If you want an easy, joyful way to teach your children how to be gentle and respectful friends to your family dog, you need this. Every family with a pet needs a copy! This book makes a perfect, most thoughtful gift! If you have a friend who has a young one and welcoming a new dog, this shows you care about the child and the pet. It’s practical, sweet, and sets up a wonderful, safe relationship from day one. A must-buy for your family and every family you know!
This is a neat little book for younger children by Cat Hepburn, but don’t let its simplicity fool you – Cat is highly experienced with dog training and behaviour, and her illustrations here demonstrate that very well. Through simple rhyming text, the book explains when the canine character is happy to play and interact with the child character, and when he is not, in terms a child can understand. The illustrations here are the real star, whilst the text is suitable for very young children, the very accurate yet attractive illustrations will really highlight dog body language for toddlers right up to adults! The book shows play bows, tail wags, whale eyes, avoidance/appeasement behaviours and much more, in a very friendly style that is sufficiently realistic to accurately depict canine body language, whilst remaining appealing to look at for all ages. Crucially, the book reinforces the message that dogs are not toys, they’re not to be climbed on, they have their own feelings and sometimes will appreciate space and being left alone. A must have addition to the bookshelf for anyone with small children and a pet dog, and a good recommendation for trainers/behaviourists to offer to clients.
So, I was asked to review a book. It’s always a little risky asking Shay Kelly to review anything - I’m brutally honest with such things and people don’t usually ask twice. However, this book, I loved. It’s a children’s book about respecting and understand when dogs might and might not want to interact. Although it is kept very simple, it tackles the difficult/risky subject of child safety around dogs. On first glance it’s just a cute picture book teaching kids that dogs don’t always want to play. But it’s so much more; It subtly introduces the concept of empathy and animals having their own feelings. It plants the seeds of kindness, and who knows what might grow? I can’t wait to read this book to my granddaughter and see what she thinks.
I loved this book, the pictures make it easy to understand how the dog is feeling and it means I can recognise how other dogs feel too. It's really good to know how to be safe with dogs.
If you have little children and dogs, or plan to have both in your life, this is a good purchase to add to the home library!
A lovely easy read book for parents and children, the simple clear illustrations mean even the youngest children can learn when a dog doesn't want to play. The child friendly language helps children to really understand how their dog is feeling and to know what to do/not do to keep safe
Fun little book for learning about safe interactions between children and dogs :) 10/10
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