Children’s Book of the Week: A Dog Called Dog by Harri Romney

A Dog Called Dog, this week’s Children’s Book of the Week, is a delightful book for young children.  Filled with appealing illustrations, drawn by author Harri Romney herself, the book shows children why sharing is so much better than being selfish. Please read my full review below.

About the book                                                                                                                                                                                                 Dog goes out for his usual walk one foggy morning.  His friends come to find him, but the unsociable hound is eating his bone, and barks at them to go away until he’s ready to play.  Dog eventually realises that his friends were trying to find him to come along and share their wonderful feast, but now they won’t share…Dog must rectify this situation.

About the Author by the Author                                                                                                                           I’m from the smallest county of Rutland in the UK.  I’m the author and illustrator of quite a few children’s picture books.  My trademark seems to have become, that I  create picture books which are mostly written in narrative verse, plus do hand illustrations using traditional pencils and paint pens.

My Review of A Dog Called Dog

A Dog Called Dog is an enjoyable little rhyming book filled with very charming illustrations drawn by the author herself. Well written and easy to understand, the young reader is taken on a walk with ‘Dog’ as he goes to the park and meets his friends, one by one. Quite determined not to be interrupted by any of them whilst enjoying his bone, he refuses to play with them. He soon realises what a mistake he has made.

The short narrative is well-written, and amusingly, the same sentence is repeated throughout at the end of each page, “Leave me alone to eat my nice bone. I don’t want to play, so go away!” reinforcing Dog’s attitude.

More importantly the book demonstrates to young children that being selfish and not sharing doesn’t pay dividends, and it is possible to distance friends this way. Dog’s attitude is not acceptable.

Although this would make an excellent book to read aloud to small children, emergent readers would have no difficulty reading this on their own.

It is sweet, visually pleasing and entertaining!

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Three dogs sat round a table;
there was one empty place,

Reginald sniffed him out at the park,
so grumpy Dog yet again would bark.

A rude dog called Dog had a privileged life.
He was spoiled rotten by the doctor’s wife.

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Children’s Book of the Week: Who Will Hug the Sun by Ey Wade

Short, sweet, and uplifting. Those are the first words which spring to mind about Who Will Hug the Sun by Ey Wade. This informative, and somewhat touching little book which will surely engage any child and I am delighted to able to feature it this week. You will find my full review below.

About the Book

Who Will Hug the Sun, tells the story of a little girl who loves hugging. She is told the story of the antics the sun went through to get her first hug. It is the first in a series of picture books titled ‘In My Sister’s World’

About the Author

Ey Wade considers herself to be a caged in frustrated author and self-publisher of nine thought provoking, mind bending books, an occasional step-in parent, a fount of  knowledge, and ready to share. The single mother of three grown daughters and now the ‘Lovey’ of a beautiful grandson. Find out more about Ey at Wade-In Publishing

My Review of Who Will Hug the Sun

I love books from which a child can take something away with them, and this one offers just that.  A little girl called Mhia wants to hug the sun and finds herself listening to her mother’s tale of how the sun had wanted a hug too, and how difficult it had been for her to get one. The narrative cleverly gets around to explaining a total solar eclipse in ways little ones can easily understand.  A valuable and simple snippet of science for the young! The sketches within the book are nicely executed and go well with the story. The story itself is endearing and actually quite moving and, as Mhia says, everyone needs a hug! This is a well-written and enjoyable book which I would recommend to parents as a read aloud book for their younger children.

 

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“She saw the children hugging their pets”

“One day the sun grabbed the fluffiest cloud and held it close”

“The moon watched the sun from afar and felt saddened by her tears”