The five-sided home plate was not introduced until 1900.Chest protectors first appeared in baseball in the mid-1880s.

Additional clues help further narrow down the possible years: Though not explicitly stated in the text, the dogs (one blue, one yellow, and one red) are clearly playing baseball.įull-well understanding that this is a drawing, not a photograph, and thus the artist may have taken certain liberties in terms of historical accuracy, I decided to see what I could learn about this image.įirst, as noted above, the book was published in 1961, so we know the action depicted could not have taken place after that year. On the very next page, Eastman deftly contrasts the dogs at work with three “dogs at play.” Just over halfway through the book, we see three “dogs at work.”Ī blue dog is using a shovel, a yellow dog with black spots handles a pickaxe, and a red dog operates a jackhammer. A large number of different-sized, multicolored dogs participate in various activities, eventually ending up at a dog party (a big dog party) in a tree.Ī scene and the accompanying text near the end of the book summarizes the story line quite well:īig dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow dogs, green dogs, black dogs, and white dogs are all at a dog party! If you are not familiar with the book, I suggest you grab a copy or watch it being read on YouTube. Go!” is a classic children’s book in Random House’s successful “Beginners Books” series. Published in 1961, author/illustrator P.D.

Go dog go the book