A dog's tale by Michael Rosen illustrated by Tony Ross

"... perfect for sharing with anxious pups everywhere ... "

When I saw the creators were - Michael Rosen and Tony Ross - I knew this would be a terrific book. The full title is A Dog's Tale: life lessons for a young pup. The lessons, applicable to all of us not just pups, are told with gentle humour in a personal direct conversational style:

"Hey, what's with the frown? Let's go for a walk
You know what they say: it's helpful to talk.
I've been round the block
and on trains once or twice;
there's no harm in haring an old dog's advice."

And so our wise older dog takes his young pup companion on a walk all the while providing practical advice.

"So tail up, get ready! Be wide-open-hearted!
The world is there waiting for you to get started."

What will they do? Catch, chase, run, listen and taste. Where will they go? Up over the hills and down to the beach.

The rhymes are perfect, as you would expect from master poet Michael Rosen, and the illustrations are joyful and energetic with wonderful and very funny facial expressions as our pup navigates each new experience.

I love this advice:

"And sometimes it rains! You might have to take it.

Your fur will get wet - don't worry: just shake it!"

This is simply a perfect book to share with a young child and of course it is also a book that begs to be read aloud with heaps of expression!