One Dog Canoe: A Living Room Production

On stage, once again at the LeVake Family Theater, One Dog Canoe! Get your tickets before the kids grow up!

Yes, indeed, this one has been around for awhile. And yes, indeed, the kids are growing up fast. Here is a picture from 2014, the first time we staged One Dog Canoe in our living room.

Earlier this month we staged the show for the fourth time. Landon, my fourth born, had been too little for that first production in 2014. He took his turn as the faithful doggie sidekick the second time around and served as a backstage puppeteer for the third show. But, finally, this time, it was his turn to take center stage, or should I say, center canoe.

For this particular story, the lead role is asked to more or less recite the entire book. It is a big task but the lilting rhyme scheme and gentle rhythm by Mary Casanova makes the memorization totally doable. (The fact that we have read it a zillion times helps a lot, too.) Landon did a great job leading the audience through the story as one animal after another invites themselves into the little red canoe despite his insistence that it is a “one dog canoe.” They continue to ignore him, the canoe teeters and totters, and, well, you can probably guess what happens next.

Since the story takes place on a Minnesota lake and features animals of the north, it was fitting that we took the show on the road and performed it for grandparents while visiting them in Minnesota. (Never mind that my husband and I  are from southern Minnesota, aren’t really lake people,  and have never seen a bear or moose moseying through our hometown. We nevertheless identify with northern Minnesotans because we pronounce “flag” and “bag” more like “fleg” and “beg” and occasionally say “you betcha.”)

The sweet simplicity of the story, the charming illustrations (by Ard Hoyt), and the fact that it is set in Minnesota are all reasons One Dog Canoe earns a spot on our “special books” bookshelf. We highly recommend it not only as a fun read aloud book but also as a fantastic “act it out” book. Read on for tips on how to bring this story to life in your own living room. Or, if you’d like to see it performed in my living room, I can let you know when we stage it a fifth and final time in a year or two with Soren taking the lead. I’ll need to have a box of tissues on hand for that one.

How to turn One Dog Canoe into a living room production:

Construct a Canoe

Unfold a box, cut a canoe shape out of one of the folds, and paint it red. Tape paint sticks or other pieces of wood on the back to keep it from folding over itself (it doesn’t need to be pretty).  Place a coffee table or ottoman in front of it and a piano bench behind it to keep it up right (see below). Throw a blue blanket or sheet on the front piece to look like water and the kid and dog sit perched behind the canoe on the piano bench. 

In this photo you can see how the coffee table, covered with a blue cloth, holds the canoe up in front. The boys are sitting on a piano bench in the back and Haddie is sliding Mr. Bever into place. And seriously, isn’t Bridger the cutest little dog?

Create Puppets

Find clip art or other images you like of the six animals--beaver, loon, wolf, bear, moose, and frog. Print them and cut them out. I put construction paper borders around them and then fasten each of them to a paint stick. Tape construction paper strips on the back of the canoe where you want the paint sticks to slide into place (also doesn’t need to be pretty). Don’t forget to cut an oar out of cardboard as well.

Assign Roles

lead role--recites the entire book minus the “Can I come, too?s”

1 or 2 puppeteers--says “Can I come, too?’ and puts puppets into slots (Bever has one additional line.)

dog--says “Can I come, too?” one time and sits next to the lead the rest of the show looking cute

Rehearse

Get your hands on a copy of the book and read it over and over again. Work with the dog and the lead role so they know when to enter and where to sit. Encourage the lead to tap into those exasperated feelings and really go for it! Let the puppeteers practice their lines and sliding the animal puppet sticks into place. The entire process of rehearsing is where the work is and is often where someone will quit or have a melt down. Fear not, that is all part of the process and provides a wonderful opportunity to practice patience and perseverance (not just the kids--you too!)  Working through the bumps in the road makes the last step all the more rewarding.

Perform

Find an audience--Dad, neighbors, friends, grandparents--and share the joy!