‘The trouble with dogs,’ said Dad, ‘is that they take over your life.’ So opens the sequel to Bob Graham’s Let’s Get a Pup (2002’s CBCA Book of the Year for younger readers), and never have truer words been spoken! Of the two dogs the family have saved from the Rescue Centre, sleepy, roly-poly Rosy is settling in fine, but Dave the disobedient puppy is driving everyone mad. So it’s time to call in Pup Breakers and the fearsome Brigadier to teach Dave some manners. But in the end, it’s the expert who gets taught a lesson. Graham’s illustrations are full of his usual exuberance and warmth, packed with clever details and catching the eye on every page with varying sizes and layouts. The story will be familiar to any family that gets a new dog-it reminded me of the time many years ago when my then nine-year-old sister brought a dog into our previously cat-only family: fun and mayhem ensued as we all learned how to deal with this tiny disruptive whirlwind in our midst!

Tim Coronel is the editor and deputy publisher of BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER. He’s a cat person

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: bob graham