Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Good Dog
Illustrator: Jennifer Gray Olson
Coralstone, 2015 ISBN: 978-0989808507
One day a boy called Ricky Lee was out riding his bike. He went down a hill very fast, lost control of his bike and crashed into a box. Inside the box there was a little puppy and when Ricky saw the puppy he picked it up, tucked it into his coat and took it home. Ricky’s parents agreed to let Ricky keep the dog if it behaved itself. If the dog was “bad” it would have to go to the pound.
The Puppy, whom Ricky named Tako, did his best to be a good dog. Sometimes though the urge to chew a slipper, or lick a batter bowl, or pull on laundry was just too much for Tako. On the whole though, Tako was very good, and when the family moved into town to open a new bakery Tako went with them.
Everyone worked hard to get the store ready and soon enough the Happy Family Bakery opened. The people in the town were delighted with the new bakery where they could buy delicious sweets and baked goods. They liked them so much in fact that they stopped going to Mr. Pritchard’s store on the hill. His wares were “colorless” and “stale.” Mr. Pritchard loved money, so when he saw how he was losing customers he decided to do something about it. Little did he know that he had one formidable, though small, adversary standing in his way.
In this wonderful story book we meet a family who takes in, loves and cares for a homeless little dog. Once he is a member of the Lee family, Tako is true to them, through thick and thin. Children will enjoy seeing how the story of Tako and his family unfolds, and they will be delighted to see how Tako, the dog whom no one wanted, becomes the hero of the day.
