Canine Capers

Fred
Mick and Chloë Inkpen
Hodder Children’s Books
Hooray! More from Fred.. I fell in love with this mischievous puggish pup in I Will Love You Anyway and now here he is, bouncing right back to delight us once again with his prankish behaviour. In fact now it seems he can tick off a whole lot of ‘can do’ items from the list of accomplishments one might expect of a little dog. He can fetch a stick, come when called, sit and stay. There’s one word though that still eludes the little chap; he doesn’t understand the meaning of Fred – a word often on the lips of his young owner. And something else puzzles him too: another dog upstairs that looks just like him –mmm!

Could he perhaps know what this strange ‘Fred’ word is all about? Strangely enough he seems to be popping up in other places too, places like the park and he has his paws on a certain ball belonging to our narrator …
After a very wet awakening, followed by a scream, a dash, and a jump, another face appears, a face that whispers a certain word over and over and then – light bulb moment …

Adorable!

Another canine has recently won a place in my affections; he’s the Boston terrier that stars in:

Harold’s Hungry Eyes
Kevin Waldron
Phaidon
Harold is a real foodie; he spends almost all his time either eating or day dreaming about his next meal. His dreaming is done lying in one position or another on his favourite chair – a chair he loves almost as much as he loves food. One day though, this super comfy chair is no longer where it should be when he goes to eat breakfast. A devastated Harold sees it being loaded onto the rubbish cart.

Without another thought for his meal, he takes off in hot pursuit and is soon lost and even worse, his tummy is starting to rumble. His food obsession kicks in and Harold begins seeing things of the edible kind wherever he looks …

Happily though, his wits and those hungry eyes of his finally lead him back home where he finds a satisfying breakfast and a delicious surprise … a new place whereon to relax.
With smatterings of edible humour, this stylish book is a wonderful visual feast that’s more than likely to have young audiences chuckling and perhaps, drooling.