Young Children

Dude! You have to read this book.

It’s totally about this platypus and this beaver who are friends. They want to go surfing but dude, there’s this shark who’s in the ocean, too.

But don’t worry. This shark approaches and you’ll never guess what happens.

I find it impressive that someone wrote and published an entire picture book that uses the same word over and over again but in different variations and tones.

This book immediately got my attention because my service dog’s name is Dude. I got the name from the Disney California Adventure attraction, Turtle Talking with Crush. There’s a part in the show where Crush says, “You so totally rock!” and everyone in the audience is supposed to say “Dude!” back to him. I took Dude to the show once and we both sat on the floor with the other kids and Dude kept trying to sniff them. Crush called on me and I told him Dude’s name and Crush said, “That is the best name ever!”

I read this book to Dude and he kept looking at me like he was thinking, “Why do you keep saying my name? I’m right here.” Here’s a picture of Dude reading the book with my mom.

And here he is reading the book on his own.

As a bonus, here’s a Zits comic that proves the word Dude can be used at any point in time.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Surfing

A surfer in Portugal once caught a wave taller than a 6-story building.