Book Review: Scout Hits the Trail (with CD)

Scout Hits the Trail, by Liam O'Donnell (Soundprints, 2008, $4.95, 32pp PB, ages 4-8, preschool to grade 2), a Pet Tales book, with assistance from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Do you remember how, when you were a kid, you had one or two read-along books and took them everywhere you went? You would look at the story and listen to it being read just for you. Maybe that's even the way you learned to read! Or, pretended to.

Soundprints has published a wonderful story, approved by the AVMA, about a  yellow labrador retriever named Scout and who goes on a hike with his family. Everyone carries something, even Scout. After lunch, Scout saves the day but, just how, will be revealed not by me but by reading and listening to Scout Hits the Trail.

Inspired by a real dog, Scout is also depicted with appropriate body language in illustrations that seem almost to be photographs, and not only is there a glossary in the back but also a page about taking care of your dog - in the heat of summer, with an ID collar and leash on at all times, and advice about not interacting with wild animals.

Definitely a book to use daily - and keep!

Book Review: Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About (dog rescue, young woman in NYC coming of age)

Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About, by Isabel Klee (HarperCollins, 2026, 288pp HB, $19.60)

This review is here because the word, Dogs, comes before the word, Boys, in the title! And because we have put it on your To Read List for 2026. A warm, funny, inspirational book, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About is a book you will race through, hardly believing it could be true but loving it nevertheless.

Our heroine, Isabel, has lived many lives before she is 30 - lived in many apartments with many roommates and boys, fostered many dogs, spent many nights partying in New York City bars. . . .

A Gem of a Book

A little gem, with an added bonus that I didn't notice until about chapter 5 are the faint outlines of a dog at the top of each chapter. I wondered if their breed might foretell something about the content of the chapter but I didn't want to take the time  to analyze the possible connection. Suffice it to say that perhaps the drawings did, perhaps they didn't.

And I would suggest  paying attention to not the chapter titles as much as the months and years preceding each chapter (I didn't).

Author Isabel Klee has also given us a gift in the chapter on losing a pet and how it differs from losing a parent or other close someone. "When you lose a dog, it's impossible to imagine ever loving again. Then, one day, you stumble across another dog who needs you, and it just makes sense. . . choosing the inevitable heartbreak that comes at the end of a dog's life. They were going into it knowing how much it would hurt one day and doing it anyway. Because the loss is excruciating; there's no way around it. But the in-between is pure magic." (p. 169)

And the Story is. . . . 

The author is dog-crazy and searching for love in the Bog City. She also has a great day job with dogs. And, she fosters dogs with issues and turns them around, just by being accepting - a lesson for all of us. I would love to meet her!

A party girl, her life was exhausting for me but parts of it I envied. Does she ever truly find "true love'? (apart from dogs, that is.)

Now I am ready for her next book on more canine characters and how she loved them back to physical and emotional health!

I give this book an A-. Like Kristin Hannah's, it is emotionally exhausting but I was sad when it ended.

Book Review: Magic Hour (PNW, child: lost and found)

Magic Hour, by Kristin Hannah (Ballantine Books, 432pp, 2010, $14.00)

Remember Love Story starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal back in the 70s? Remember it wasn't a love story between the two of them but between O'Neal's character and his father? 

New York Times' bestselling author Kristin Hannah's 15th novel is likewise the story of a little girl lost and found but primarily about two grown-up sisters (the reader actually likes and identifies with both of them). The older one, a cheerleader, becomes the town sheriff while the younger, quieter, studious one becomes a child psychiatrist who sort of runs into trouble and is asked to come home to help out her hometown, which she does. 

Magic Hour is also about forgiving, and growing up as adults after failed marriages and also about the questionable involvement of the media and its ability to twist events just a little. Throw in a disappearance or two, a prison sentence, and the beautiful Pacific Northwest and you may just fall in love with and read the rest of Hannah's work.

Magic Hour is a fast read but not because there is a lot of dialogue. Rather, because the story is so compelling and the pace is riveting. You may just devour it in one weekend, taking it with you wherever you go, on the chance you can read a quick chapter or two. 

Truly a love story about growing up and growing better and helping each other along the way, including the little girl who may just be the real winner after all.

Book Review: My Friends (teens, 25 years later)

My Friends, by Frederik Backman (Marble Sky Corporation, 390 pp, 2023, ages 16 and up, $19 PB)

A very unusual read from a Swedish author that might take you halfway through before you identify with the characters but the rest of the book is well worth it: your reading speed will accelerate and along the way you will guess at what happens - sometimes you will be wrong, though sometimes you will be right.

A group of 14-year-olds who are as tight as any friends (and any age) can be which astonished me, a senior citizen who tried to remember the summer when I was 14. Three boys and a girl (eventually) and how they spend their summer days together (sometimes pilfering, but always supporting each other). 

Other major characters in the book are the pier (though I would call it a dock) and the painting of three friends sitting on the end of the dock, the debut work of one whose name is revealed only near the end.

The prolific author of other books on my Must-Read list, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry (with a dog on the cover) and Beartown, Frederik Backman has a very unusual style of writing. Like many others, he tells his story by going back and forth over 25 years but he also drops in a sentence here and there that are simply unforgettable gems - and these increase with frequency as the story progresses.

I only wish a reading guide had been included with questions for book clubs but, no doubt, this book will be studied for a long time.

Book Review: A Dog's Gotta Do What a Dog's Gotta Do: Dogs at Work (children's book)

A Dog's Gotta Do What a Dog's Gotta Do: Dogs at Work, by Marilyn Singer (Scholastic, 2000, 96pp, ages 7-10, grades 4-6, $6.25)

I just couldn't pass up this book once I saw the title: A Dog's Gotta Do What a Dog's Gotta Do, and the cover photo of a golden retriever bringing in the newspaper.

Each of the seven chapters starts with an incredible one-paragraph, one-page story of a real dog, followed by several pages of non-fiction facts and stories about dogs in the same 'occupation' as the theme for that chapter, such as military working dogs, livestock guarding dogs, scenting dogs and therapy dogs, seeing eye dogs, avalanche and sled dogs, TV and movie dogs and even the dog on the Titanic who saved many lives!

Although written as if it could be read quickly in one sitting, it is so full of different facts that the reader would do better to go through it chapter by chapter. And, of course, dog-ear the pages that resonate most - even have a competition among the family members as to which dog jobs are their favorite or which dogs they think do the most incredible unbelievable jobs!

With so many different things a dog can do, each dog has its specialty. This makes for a riveting discussion with your young reader about valuing each dog, each person, for something.

Book Review: Bugs (OT)(Oh, what a gem!)

Bugs, by Nancy Parker and Joan Wright (Harper Collins, ages 3-8, $6.99, 1987, 40pp, a Reading Rainbow book of 44 titles)

OK, so I broke my rule of not considering books that are old. Especially if they are research tomes, I usually limit them to the past five years. This is not research, however, therefore, I can allow myself to go back further, even to 1987 because Bugs is simply that good!

Many authors attempt to write in rhyme, albeit unsuccessfully. Author Nancy Parker, however, not only succeeds in rhyming but makes the rhymes make sense and flow into each other. She poses a question about an insect, then answers it with both lines rhyming. It must have taken a long long time to come up with such colorful matches! And her descriptions on the facing page have just the right amount of biological information - size, gender, stage of life, and ending with geographic location.

The final page is written more for the adults in the room with a bibliography and taxonomy, preceded by a few pages of a picture glossary for the younger ones.

We generally donate the books post-review, but this one is a keeper! With 16 bugs!

Book Review: The Tenth Good Thing about Barney (cat passes away)

The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, by Judith Viorst (Simon and Schuster, $16.99HB, ages 5-9, grades 1-4, 32pp)

Judith Viorst's books have stood the test of time and even though this one is nearly 40 years old and one that some of us grew up with, it will last and our grandchildren will learn from it about their best friend.

With lovely understated drawings of the story, The Tenth Good Thing About Barney is a book to read over and over again. And just like the boy in the book who cries before falling asleep, I know some children who will take this to bed with them, read it and look at the pictures and remember their best friend for many nights.

On a lighter note, the name Barney could bring up pictures of a dog as well as a cat as in Viorst's story.

In a nutshell, the boy can quickly come up with nine good things about his cat who passed away but he gets stuck trying to think of a tenth. It is not until he dad plants a seed that the boy can think of a tenth. And the ending will stay with the young reader forever.

Book Review: A Dog Called Hope

A Dog Called Hope, A Wounded Warrior and the Service Dog Who Saved Him, by Jason Morgan* (Simon and Schuster, $19.99, 325pp PB, 2018) Read a sample here and listen to a sample here.

Another Wow book!

I can usually tell, within a few sentences, if I am going to like a book. A Dog Called Hope was a breath of fresh air: I had read so many less than average books recently since I help judge several (about five) national book awards each year that I am relieved when I can read just for pleasure and select  my own reading selections.

Two books in one - or more. First it is the story of an Air Force 'weatherman' - then the story of a mission, then of an injury and the airman's work at recovery, then of his relationship with his family and service dog (whom he finally meets about halfway through the book). And also of puppy raisers for a service dog organization (this one is CCI, Canine Companions for Independence), and finally of CCI's spokesman, the author Jason Morgan. If this book doesn't make you google on CCI and read more about it, I'll eat my hat.

This is a book full of coincidences - of two wheelchair-bound men who 'share' a puppy/dog at different times, and of a dogfather and son themselves. And full of the ignorance of some people and the dog 'telling' his veteran to cool it and choose his battles.

And what is the real value of a service dog? To pick up dropped items? to bond with his person? to open up the world again for his person? or all of the above?

Dogs are indeed magical and this is indeed a magical book about dogs.

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*If you liked this book, co-authored by Damien Lewis, you will also like his book Sergeant Rex 

Book Review: Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy (children's book)

Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy, by Katherine Applegate (Macmillan, 2023, ages 6-9, grades 2-3, 96pp HB, $9.99) Book three in the Doggo and Pupper series. Read a sample, listen to a sample.

How does she do it? The author, Katherine Applegate. How does she write three dog books, each with 7 chapters and each with 96 pages? And each about that adorable canine duo, Doggo and Pupper. And Cat.

My first-grader's fave was Pupper the puppy while I was drawn to Doggo the dog. So much so that I wanted to buy more copies of the books and hang some pages on our bulletin board. That is, until I realized how funny Doggo's cowlick was. 

Nonetheless, these books are long but can be read (OK, digested) in chewable amounts, like a chapter at a time. Each of the three books in the series has a plot that can be bitten off in small chunks at bedtime and the rest saved for the next night. And so on.

In The Search for Cozy, Cat gets a new bed from the humans (who we see only rarely and then, from waist down). Oh. no!

It looks like the old one. Same color. Same size. Same location. But it smells new and doesn't have Cat's lumps and bumps where Cat wants them. In other words, it is not her bed.

What To Do?

What do friends do in a case like this? Will Doggo and Pupper search for the old bed or can they make the new bed old?

Cats are cats and dogs are dogs and not always friends, even if they live in the same house. The young reader will have fun guessing what happens next to these 'friends.'

Author Katherine Applegate never writes down to her readership: she always challenges them and gives them a fun read - one that they can compare to their own lives. 

And I've said it before and I'll say it again. A good book needs a good story, well told. That is what Applegate does, but how she does it is a mystery. 

Book Review: Doggo and Pupper Save the World (children's book)

Doggo and Pupper Save the World, by Katherine Applegate (Macmillan, 2022, ages 6-9, grades 2-3, 96pp HB, $9.99) Book two in the Doggo and Pupper series. Listen to an audio sample here.

In this second Doggo and Pupper book, Pupper has grown up a little bit but is still a puppy. Pupper and Doggo discover a bird nest with two baby birds. They see one learning how to fly but think the other is afraid and will venture forth only when he is ready. Unfortunately, that baby bird is later discovered on the ground hidden in a bush. What should our heroes do? Help the baby bird - or will the mother find him and teach him to fly?

Young readers will learn what to do with wildlife they see in the wrong places.

This is the orange book while Doggo and Pupper is the blue book and the third in the series, Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy, is also orange - at least the inner front and back pages are, a detail little kids will remember. 

We all simply love this series and hope it will continue.

As for saving the world. . . .

Next: the third and last book in the series so far, Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy.

Book Review: Doggo and Pupper (children's book)

Doggo and Pupper, by Katherine Applegate (Macmillan, 2021, $9.99 HB, 96pp, ages 6-9, grades 1-preschool?) Read a sample here. 

Ah, another great great (dog) book by Katherine Applegate of Dogtown, Odder and Ivan* fame. Really fascinating stories for children that even their parents love. Well-written. And the illustrations! Adorable, whether drawn, like Dogtown and Doggo, or photographed (like Odder and Ivan).

Doggo is a dog, not old, but also not a puppy. He is set in his ways and comfortable in them, too. Until along comes a pupper, Pupper, to live with them. Pupper has energy and questions and more questions and he wants to play all day until he zonks out for a quick power nap. And, being a pupper, Pupper has to learn. He gets into a lot of trouble. And Cat just looks on.

A long book with 7 chapters and 96 pages, Doggo can be read all at once, or one chapter at a time.

Doggo has a lot of different jobs (treat smuggler and dream snuggler. . . . ) and your young reader will love all of them! Doggo used to be fun and his humans are getting worried about him so they bring home Pupper who causes havoc! So much that the family has to send Pupper to school. And school changes him.

To see how Doggo handles Pupper and how they finally become friends shows us how we too can accept a new family member.

You too will fall in love with both Doggo and Pupper, and may even name your next dog, Doggo. Or, Pupper!

Next: Book two of the Doggo and Pupper series.

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Dogtown: 

Odder: 

Ivan: 

Book Review: Let's Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage (OT)(Flight 93 on 9/11)

Let's Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage, by Lisa Beamer (Tyndale House, 2002, 352pp HC, $13.57) 

It's 911 all over again. 

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? If you are old enough, you will never forget. If you are almost old enough, you will recall that things were different that day and that week. 

Todd Beamer was on United Flight 93 leaving the East Coast for the West Coast on a beautiful sunny September morning, but the plane never arrived. Instead, it was highjacked - and then Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick and Tom Burnett and Mark Bingham forced the plane down in a crash in order to prevent the highjackers from flying the plane into a government building like three other planes (the Pentagon and the World Trade Center) and killing so many people. Beamer's words, "Let's Roll!" will live on in the memory of our country.

Let's Roll! is the story of Todd Beamer, starting almost as far back as his grandparents and focusing on the kind of person he was, along with his young family, remembered by his widow. He left behind two young toddler boys and a soon-to-be daughter (born four months later).

What kind of a person would do that? A loyal American, a father, a son, a husband, a Christian. This is the story of a hero and the family that made him that way. A riveting, well-written book that starts and ends with 911 but focuses on one young Christian man.

I like a lot of this book: the chapter titles, the short chapters - and I venture to say that many if not all readers will come away teary-eyed.

Book Review: Composer and Musician: Johannes Brahms (OT)

 Composer and Musician: Johannes Brahms, by Julie Sormark (Julie Sormark, 2023, 56pp, $9.99)

One of the famous three B's of music, along with Beethoven and Bach, Johannes Brahms' life spanned the 1800s. He was a perfectionist and loved children (always carried candy in his pockets to hand out) but like Franz Peter Schubert, Brahms never married. Nevertheless his most famous piece of music may be Brahms' Lullaby. He also composed A German Requiem which took several years, to honor his mother.

Once again, author Julie Sormark* tells a musician's story in poetry which is so difficult to accomplish well. In addition, the last few pages contain several different kinds** of quizzes, some of which are hard but doable. And kids will love learning about the kettle drum and how it nearly ruined one of Brahms' performances! Adults will be interested in the fact that he and the Schumanns (Robert and Clara) were so close that, after Robert's death, Brahms and Clara became so close that. . . . but they didn't.

*See the previous review here of Franz Peter Schubert

**Scrambled words, fill-in-the-blanks from a list of words given, multiple choice, plus a page of new vocabulary words, including fantasia

Book Review: Composer and Musician: Franz Peter Schubert (OT)

Composer and Musician: Franz Peter Schubert, by Julie Sormark (Julie Sormark, $9.99, 2023, 56pp)

Even in the 1700s and 1800s in Austria, coming from a middle- to lower class family, Franz Peter Schubert was uniquely talented, a musical genius who, unfortunately, was not well-known while he was alive. He also was never married though he fell in love twice, because he was so poor. He passed away young at age 31, looking up to or perhaps even idolizing Beethoven, but some people thought soon after his death that his musical composing abilities surpassed those of Beethoven. 

A Fun Book!

Author Julie Sormark writes this book in poem-form, a difficult task to accomplish well. Plus, she adds some quizzes: fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, and true-false along with a page of vocabulary words. And, perhaps more fun is how the illustrator, Timothy Stiles, drew so many pictures that the young reader can color, thus remembering what the story is all about and who Schubert was.

Other books in the series include Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and seven others musicians and composers. 

Ultimately, this engaging educational biographical poem serves as an accessible gateway that preserves Schubert's profound artistic legacy for a brand-new generation of young piano students.

Note: This was fun! I have recently tried to write at least 200 words per review but this time I got stuck at 178 so I asked Chat GPT who came up with the final  paragraph which I then edited. If I do so in the future, I will certainly note it as well.

Book Review: FLU: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It (OT)

FLU: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It, by Gina Kolata (Simon & Schuster, 2001, $14.00 PB, 352pp)

Oh, wow, what a great read! Non-fiction that reads like fiction: you just can't put it down and end up taking it with you wherever you go for a few days, but only a few days because that's all it takes to devour this book. And I wound up with two copies, lucky me. One to keep and one to give away.

Written just before COVID-19 (remember that?), FLU is a short 300-page history of  a disease called influenza or flu for short - and other pandemics (world-wide illnesses that are often fatal since humans do not have the capability to fight a new disease yet).  But it is also a thriller - a play by play account of scientists trying to beat each other to the prize* - finding the culprit from the 1918  pandemic, albeit frozen hopefully so you can compare the original to today's version, after evolving.

And vaccines. . . . "Better a vaccine without an epidemic than an epidemic without a vaccine." (p 139)

You will learn what H1N2** means so that you don't forget it plus you will learn about flu's eight genes and why it evolves in a major way every 10 years or so - think, Swine flu, bird flu, the Hong Kong flu. With 10 chapters, you will love how the author leaves you hanging at the end of every chapter, trying to figure out if you have time to read the next chapter because she has left you with only clues about what happens next. 

My only wish is that author Gina Kolata would follow this story up with another, bringing us up to date with the last 20 or 25 years of flu evolution. She is an imminently readable author.

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*this book is reminiscent of The Double Helix,

another very readable science book, this one about the 1950s race to discover the structure of DNA (basically between Watson-Crick and Linus Pauling).

** hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, the two proteins on the outside of the virus, one which helps the virus break into a host cell and one that helps it break back out once it has replicated. And the numerals stand for major evolutionary changes.

Book Review: Mouse and His Dog, A Dogtown Book

Mouse and his Dog, A Dogtown Book, by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko (Friwel and Friends, 2024, 336pp HB, $17.99, grades 4-6) Read a sample here.

Mouse has his own dog! Sort of. Yippy skippy, anyway!

Dogtown is a fictitious animal shelter that we know of only because of the mice who live there, one of whom tells this story about trying to find homes for the dogs in the shelter.

The Cover Tells it All

The front cover shows Buster and Mouse, and, the wrap-around to the back cover introduces the reader to Stewie and Smokey. Buster is that lovable golden retriever who keeps getting returned to the shelter (but your name goes on The List if it happens more than three times), Mouse lives in the rafters with other mice but manages to also live in the world of Dogtown dogs, Stewie was turned in for being aggressive (but is merely a lovable big oaf) and finally we meet Smokey, short for Smoke Alarm, a robot dog.

Mouse has "adopted" Buster and tries to find a forever home for him, as well as for Stewie and Smokey. Unlike the first book in the shelter series which has several mini-adventures, Mouse and His Dog is one long major adventure that lasts for 336 pages (after a slow start)(but several chapters are only one-pagers).

All readers will smile at the explanations of dog culture to humans and human culture to dogs (and micre) like this one: 

"We walked around looking for [human's name] . . . on a mailbox, on a door, on a ledger. Humans loved putting their names on everything. It's like how dogs and mice pee on our territory." (p. 215)

The Themes*

The young reader will learn about Reading Buddies (similar programs in other shelters) and will experience hope and love and helping others - or trying to. Will Mouse succeed in finding forever homes for his buddies even though he will lose them** to a new family? What a dilemma! "Sometimes humans find their dogs. And sometimes dogs find their humans." (p. 291)

Bonus: Author Applegate has included "8 Tips for Training the Perfect Pup."

*Other books play a role in this one: The Borrowers, The Tale of Despereaux, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, . . . v

**true love is doing the right thing, even if it hurts. "Your heart is a muscle. It gets stronger the more you use it." (p. 299)

Book Review: Dogtown

Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate* and Gennifer Choldenko (Feiwel and Friends, 2023, 352pp HB, $17.99, 8 years and older, grades 4-6)

First, the bad news: this is a long book AND there are 131** chapters.

All the rest is good news though. Some chapters are only one page long. And there are pictures. And it reads so quickly your child can read it in one afternoon! And this is the first in a series of three. And there are alliterations*** to point out.

The Plot

Three-legged Chance lives in a dog shelter but has the run of it because Management (a girl) likes him. Chance's best friends are Mouse, a mouse, and Metal Head, a robot dog (see the cover)(though I wish he had been a stuffie). 

Chance's family went on sabbatical and hired a dogsitter who lost Chance. That's how he ended up in the shelter waiting for his family to return and find him. Metal Head's boy has outgrown him so he escapes the shelter to find another family, and his friends take off after him because they are, after all, friends.

The shelter has a "Read to the Dogs" program with the book's focus on a little boy who acts up and is banished from the program - temporarily. He has been reading to the the robot dog. . . . 

Your child will love the scrapes these friends get in to and will cheer for all the characters. Even adults may sneak a read, after hours - it is that good!

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*Appelgate is the stellar author of The One and Only Ivan, Odder and the Doggo and Pupper books.

**Can you imagine trying to come up with titles for 131 chapters?

***"a literary and rhetorical device where a series of words in a row—or closely connected—start with the same consonant sound" such as "I wouldn't trade all the Milk-Bones in Michigan for Mouse and Metal Head." page 337 

Book Review: Odder (a playful sea otter)(OT)

Odder, by Katherine Applegate (Feiwel and Friends, 2026. $16.99, 288pp HC, ages 8 and up, grades 4-6)* Based loosely on a true story with some history and geography tossed in

I have kept some of the books I review - two that I can recall offhand but Odder is the first one I read twice and definitely will keep, as well as consider it strongly for the Book of the Year for 2026.

A lovely little book by Newbery Medal author Katherine Applegate (The One and Only Ivan)! This reviewer is tempted to name it prematurely for the Children's Book of the Year for 2026** already! Or did I already say that? Nevertheless it bears repeating.

With only three chapters, albeit long ones, Odder will soon become a favorite with your young ones. The first chapter brings us Odder, a three-year-old sea otter who loves aquatic acrobatics and just simply  having fun. As a matter of fact, play can take precedence over eating for her!

Chapter two opens three years earlier when Odder was a young pup. A fairly common construct, skipping back and forth in time might have to be explained to young ones. 

Writing Style with Themes of Freedom and Hope

Author Applegate uses a rare form of writing style, free verse, which often includes a play on words. And her unique way of seeing and describing things will have the reader smile and remember.

Taking place in  Monterey Bay, California, home of that fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium, Highwater to the otters, whose staff also rescue sea creatures, Odder is all about learning to care, and placing things in appropriate order: play before eating, for some otters, like Odder.

Attacked by a shark (perhaps mistakenly), Odder is rescued and sent to Highwater to rest and heal. There she meets a couple of older otters with names: the star of our book has only a number. The story behind names and numbers is a lesson not soon to be forgotten.***

And even otters in the Aquarium have jobs to do: discovering Odder's new job (which supplements her talent of acrobatic swimming and diving) is another lesson of Applegate's book.

Like Applegate's other books, your family will love and cherish this sweet story.

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*with a bibliography plus, for young readers, print and online resources

**not necessarily published in 2026 but reviewed in 2026

***p. 152 "They only name you, if you're staying for good." "Trust me. It's better to be a number."

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Wise Words

p. 86 "Ondine. . . , clutching her newborn like a pillow with a heartbeat"

p. 139 "How do you groom an otter pup?" "Carefully." (and constantly)

p. 159 "If you listen long enough, you learn things. . . whether you want to or not."

p. 209 "Hope can be exhausting."

p. 264 "Fiction is the lie that tells the truth after all."

Book Review: Discovered! A Beagle Called Bella (Rainbow Street Shelter Book 6 of 6)

Discovered! A Beagle Called Bella, by Wendy Orr (Macmillan, 2013, $5.99, 126pp PB, grades 2-5, ages 7-10) 

Every dog has a job to do. It's the discovery of which job it is that can take time and cause heartaches in the meantime.

A young couple adopt a young Beagle from the Rainbow Street Shelter: they fall in love with Bella, the name they gave the pupster because she was so cute and smelled her way everywhere. After all, she is a beagle. But she also chewed and chewed (after all, she is a puppy) and whined and whined when left alone (she had lived with her mom and littermates all her life and was not used to being alone while Kate and Julian worked).

On The Other Hand. . . .

Tim lives with his dad but goes to California to visit his mom in her new life. Tim's dad works at the airport with sniffer dog Sherlock who is retiring so Dad has to find another dog to work with.

How all these people and dogs meet is quite a breath-taking story and you will not guess how it ends. Plus another guess of yours takes a long time to develop and you, the reader, younger or older, are on the seat of your pants waiting for the inevitable to finally happen.

We have the same wonderful characters at the Rainbow Street Shelter like Hannah. And, finally, the illustrations are so real you just want to reach out and touch them. Thank you, Patricia Castelao.

Book Review: Lost! A Dog Called Bear (Rainbow Street Shelter Book 1 of 6)

 Lost! A Dog Called Bear, by Wendy Orr (Macmillan, 2011, $5.99, 128pp PB, 7-10 years, grades 3-4)

Bear, A Funny Name for a Border Collie

Logan's parents are splitting up -  his dad taking Bear, the dog, to a new and very small town, while Logan is going to live with his mom in the city. Also in the city, Hannah has wanted a dog all her life and thinks she could be a dog walker.

One day, Hannah finds a dog in the back of her dad's truck so they take the dog to the shelter and Hannah starts to volunteer. 

Find out how Logan and Hannah meet: they also "live" in the next book, Discovered! along with the Rainbow Street Shelter (actually there are six books in the series but only two are dog books).

A Knack for Writing

Author Wendy Orr certainly has a knack for writing children's books that are also great (short) stories for adults. She has that magic touch, whether it is the plot that is so believable or the characters who seem real or merely the sentences that are well put together.  And there are twists at the end of chapters that keep you wanting to go on and finish the book.

Bring in a guinea pig and a litter of new puppies, and you have a children's book that could be made into a much longer book for teens.