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Gizmo, a dachshund who's used to life in the city, isn't sure about moving with his journalist human to the small country village of Puddle. He's just wondering how to get to know the other dogs when he meets the dog next door and gets the fright of his life! Jilly is a giant wolfhound! But she turns out to be a sweet mom with four adorable puppies and she needs his help. Her humans are going to sell her puppies far away, but she'd like them to stay close by so she can visit them. Jilly and Gizmo set out to visit the other dogs in town and look for homes for Jilly's puppies. When their first try doesn't work, Gizmo is inspired by his journalistic experience to write a newspaper and get the news out that way - and along the way he meets lots of new friends.
Brown and blue illustrations, with highlights of red and yellow on collars and in flowers, are spaced throughout this cheerful story. While it wasn't to my personal taste - I don't care for sentimentalizing anthropomorphic animals and newspapers are pretty outdated now - I can absolutely see kids loving this, despite my own biases.
James has written several other beginning chapter series, and while definitely British, this latest series hits all the keynotes to make a successful beginning chapter series. Cute pictures and animals, a challenge that's not too scary or big to handle, and lots of gentle humor are all things that appeal to a significant section of my young readers and their caregivers.
Verdict: While this won't diversify your collection and there are plenty of similar series, if you have voracious beginning readers who have finished off all the Diary of a Pug, Critter Club, and similar series, they'll be lining up to find out what happens next in the Daily Bark.
ISBN: 9781547608805; Published January 2022 by Bloomsbury; Review copy provided by publisher; Purchased for the library
1 comment:
The little gray dogs are so cute and look a bit like my Pongo. I would definitely have bought these for my own children.
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