Book Review: Always in Trouble (children's book)

Always in Trouble, by Corinne Demas (Scholastic Press, 2009, 40 pp, ages 4-8, preschool - grade 3, prices vary)

The Plot

The week starts with Emma and her dog Toby who does something different every day, from getting into the garbage on Monday to chewing up all the buttons on Emma's new coat on Saturday. And that's just one week! 

Emma's mom is mad so Emma decides to give Toby more attention. They do lots of fun things on Monday followed by Toby's good days and bad days. Emma's mom was mad. 

So Emma took Toby to dog school (taught by Mrs. Katz!) where he was a star! But then, after the course finished, Toby was back to his usual uncontrollable self. 

So, Emma left him at the dog trainer's for a week.

Can you guess what happened when Toby came back home?

The Words

Author Corinne Demas has penned the most delightful book we have read in a long long time with the possible exception of the ending, but it is the day-by-day story of Toby that will stay with your child and make an impression that will last and last.  Being such a long book, at 40 pages, the ending can actually be skipped or forgotten but the days of the week and Toby's antics will live on. And on. And on.

The Pictures

Drawings by Noah Jones represent every dog, their arrangements on each page are simply perfect, and the realistic portrayals of what Toby the dog does are so so realistic that every child will giggle all the way through Always in Trouble and love Toby just the same.

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You will want to check out more books by Demas, especially the award-winning Saying Goodbye to Lulu, about a girl and her dog Lulu, available at the Howard County, MD, public library.