News Hounds: The Puppy Problem

Laura James

Charlie Alder

Bloomsbury, 2021

128pp., pbk., RRP $A12.99

9781526620545

Gizmo is a city dog, so when he moves to the village of Puddle with his journalist human he doesn’t know WHAT to expect. Certainly not FLOWERS. Or BEES. And he couldn’t have even imagined MUD. Luckily he’s got Jilly, the wolfhound next door, to show him around. But Jilly has a problem. Her puppies are going to be given to new owners far away. She’ll never see them again! Gizmo might not know the difference between a cow and a tractor but he’s got a nose for a story, and a great idea to help Jilly. What if the dogs of Puddle had a newspaper? And so begins The Daily Bark with Gizmo as editor, Jilly (who knows everyone) as the lead reporter, and Bunty as the weather reporter.  Lola is the sports reporter, Bob who is the station master’s dog writes the travel news and Bruno is the fashion and beauty expert.

Although this will appeal to both genders, it seems that when little girls grow out of unicorns they move on to dogs and dolphins and so this will especially appeal to them.  The author also wrote  the series about Fabio, the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective and Pirate Pug  and seems to know just what young girls who are consolidating their new reading skills want and need.  Illustrated in colour and using a larger font, the characters and plot move along drawing the reader into the story and engaging them to the end.  Something new to keep them reading over these cold winter weeks.