Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, November 1, 1995 (Vol. 92, No. 5))
When rotund, good-natured Officer Buckle visits school assemblies to read off his sensible safety tips, the children listen, bored and polite, dozing off one by one. But when the new police dog, Gloria, stands behind him, secretly miming the dire consequences of acting imprudently, the children suddenly become attentive, laughing uproariously and applauding loudly. The good policeman is first gratified with the response, then deflated to learn that Gloria was stealing the show. Finally, he realizes that he and Gloria make a great team, and they take their show on the road again, adding a new message, "ALWAYS STICK WITH YOUR BUDDY!" Like Officer Buckle and Gloria, the deadpan humor of the text and slapstick wit of the illustrations make a terrific combination. Large, expressive line drawings illustrate the characters with finesse, and the Kool-Aid-bright washes add energy and pizzazz. Children will enjoy the many safety-tip notes tacked up on the endpapers and around the borders of the jacket front. Somehow, the familiar advice (like "Never leave a bar of soap where someone might step on it" or "Never tilt your chair back on two legs" ) is more entertaining accompanied by little drawings of Gloria hamming it up. Category: For the Young. 1995, Putnam, $15.95. Ages 4-7.

Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
Dull! Dull! Dull! are officer Buckle's safety tips to kids at schools until he brings Gloria, the Police Dog, who acts out the safety tips in grand style behind Buckle's back! Kids are in rapt attention but Buckle is unaware of his dog's dramatics until he sees his program televised on the 10 p.m. news. Embarrassed, he cancels all future engagements. "Just send Gloria, you don't need me." But, of course, they do need him. Kids love it! Winner of the 1996 Caldecott Medal. 1995, Putnam, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
Officer Buckle was a safety expert and he often spoke to the kids at Napville School, but for some reason they always seemed to doze off. One day Gloria joins the police department and Officer Buckle takes her on his next school visit. He is a smash hit. Gloria upstages safety officer Buckle, but teamwork and friendship are part of the message in this delightfully humorous book. Winner of the Caldecott Medal. 1995, Putnam, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Peggy Rathmann's 1996 Caldecott winner is Officer Buckle and Gloria. Don't be misled by the almost cartoonish pictures. It is Rathmann's clever blending of humor and simplicity that allows her to tell a story of friendship, betrayal and the struggle to recover relationship, and make these complicated ideas accessible, touching, and entertaining. Officer Buckle gives deadly dull safety presentations, which fail miserably until he is joined by his police dog, Gloria, a natural actress. Without his knowledge, the dog stands behind him and mimes his points with slapstick and irreverence that brings the pair fame. But when Officer Buckle sees their program on television and learns the truth about what Gloria has been doing, he is depressed and can't go on with his show. However, Gloria can't pull it off alone. The two reunite and come up with the best safety lesson of all: "Always stick with your buddy!" Depth and sophistication come in the contrast of story and illustrations. The illustrations have a sense of movement and the vivid colors well-describe the vibrant Gloria. Like the two characters, neither book, nor illustrations would find such success if they operated solo. 1995, Putnam, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1995)
Whenever Officer Buckle visits elementary schools to give his lecture on personal safety, his audiences drift off to sleep. But once his trusty police dog Gloria begins to accompany him, suddenly his show is a hit! Little does Officer Buckle know, however, that his new-found popularity is actually due to Gloria's upstaging him behind his back -- literally -- as she enacts a dramatic interpretation of each of Officer Buckle's tips. Lively pen-and-ink drawings with watercolor washes add humor to this modern cautionary tale. CCBC categories: PICTURE BOOKS. 1995, Putnam, 32 pages, $15.95. Ages 3-7.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1995)
The unexpected theme of this picture book featuring a policeman and his dog is jealousy over attention; it has definite child appeal. Officer Buckle likes to share safety tips with children, but he is so boring he puts the audience to sleep. Then he takes along the police department's new dog, Gloria, to share the stage. She does tricks, such as jumping up with all her hair standing on end as he talks about avoiding electric shock, and Officer Buckle is a hit. He doesn't realize until later that his new popularity is based on Gloria's antics. He stops lecturing and sulks, relenting only when the children write to him to say that Gloria won't perform without him. The book is quite funny, thanks to Rathmann's frenetic cartoons. The text is very direct; Gloria's performances only show up in the pictures, and the contrast is hilarious. The idea of an adult's envying a dog is amusing, and the emotions portrayed will hit home with children. Fans of Rathmann's Good Night, Gorilla (1994) will like this one, too. 1995, Putnam, $15.95. © 1995 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 1995 (Vol. 49, No. 2))
Officer Buckle is exceedingly knowledgeable about safety tips, and his school lectures are well-meaning, informative, and dull, dull, dull. This changes when he partners up with police-dog Gloria who, unbeknownst to Officer Buckle, manically acts out the good officer's hints behind his back, leading to cheers, applause, and great demand for further speech engagements. Buckle is temporarily chagrined and breaks up the partnership when he discovers that the applause has been for Gloria all along, but he and Gloria reunite after it's demonstrated how much they need each other and how much schools need them both. This is at heart the old story of the importance of friendship, but the safety tips-all quite genuine-and the rest of the plot devices give it a fresh twist (Rathmann, author of Good Night, Gorilla, BCCB 5/94, seems to specialize in revealing what animals do behind their humans' backs). The illustrations are the lifeblood of this book, though; Rathmann's scratchy-edged watercolors in a luminous palette depict the safety partners as an unassuming pair within whom greatness lurks, and the pictures reveal any number of preventable accidents waiting to happen at every school (check out the sinister banana pudding). Real lecturers won't, alas, measure up to this standard, but the book will make a useful antidote when they don't. R--Recommended. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1995, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1995, Putnam, [33p], $15.95. Ages 5-8 yrs.

Kathie Krieger Cerra (The Five Owls, March/April 1996 (Vol. 10, No. 4))
It seems that author and artist Peggy Rathmann intuitively understands what Isaac Bashevis Singer has said about the importance of story in fiction--that an author should set out to write stories, not teach lessons. If the reader happens to learn a lesson, so be it. Indeed, Peggy Rathmann applies this principle here through playful joining of words and pictures in the 1996 Caldecott Medal winner, Officer Buckle and Gloria. The humorous cover of this book portrays what is to come--a somewhat puzzled Officer Buckle on stage in the spotlight, surrounded by an audience of cheering children who direct their attention to Gloria the dog as she does flips in the air outside of Officer Buckle's range of vision. The story's economy of language can be seen in its quick beginning: "Officer Buckle knew more safety tips than anyone in Napville. Every time he thought of a new one, he thumbtacked it to his bulletin board." The police officer goes to schools to teach children these safety tips but finds that the students are bored until he brings along the police department's new police dog, Gloria. This leads to numerous scenes like the one on the cover, with children listening, cheering, and roaring at Gloria's hilarious antics while the officer proceeds about the serious business of delivering his information. The plot thickens when Officer Buckle finally sees a videotape of his presentation on the ten o'clock news and discovers that the eager reception has not been for him after all. In true picture book fashion, the illustrations move beyond the story and enrich it. The full color painting, unified by Officer Buckle's blue uniform and Gloria's shaded brown coat, exhibit dramatic action and humor plus a range of feelings and moods in the two main characters and in the children and teachers--seriousness, surprise, contentment, astonishment, exhilaration, chagrin, shock, and joy. An important feature of the illustrations are Officer Buckle's many safety tips, which appear as notes on the wall in his office and as paper stars accompanied by humorous pictures of Gloria demonstrating them. Similar stars also appear on the book's endpapers and frame the front cover, echoing the shape of Officer Buckle's badge and the tag on Gloria's collar. Children in the primary grades respond to this book with great enthusiasm, as do their parents, because of its clever and abundant humor and its well-balanced, action-filled story. Officer Buckle and Gloria is a book that children return to repeatedly, for there is much to be discovered in the illustrations and the language. And even after many readings, it's still funny. 1995, Putnam, 8-1/2 x 11, 32 pages, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1995)
Behind Officer Buckle's back, police dog Gloria acts out his safety tips in slapstick antics. When he learns that it is Gloria who is the star of the show, not himself, Buckle refuses to visit any more schools. But Gloria's solo attempt proves to be a dud, and the two return as a pair, with a new safety tip: 'Always stick with your buddy!' The affable illustrations and the myriad safety tips add to the enjoyment of this glorious book. Category: Fiction. 1995, Putnam, 32pp.. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.