Between book edits and running social media for our authors, we have the pleasure of receiving advance copies of books which we can enjoy. One of our main passions at Calico Editing Services, is reading with children. A lot of the books we work on are children’s books and we love working with authors who share our passion for encouraging children to enjoy books. When author April Cox sent us a copy of Puppy Pick Up Day we were delighted by its fun story, the mischievous main character and the bright illustrations.
Puppy Pick Up Day is the first in a series of books starring Brady the little Labradoodle Pup. In this first book we get introduced to this loveable pup- and who couldn’t love him?! He is full of fun!
It is the day that Brady and his litter-mates are being picked up by their new owners ready to go to their new homes. They are all very excited and go to play outside whilst they wait to be picked up. But Brady is clumsy and gets lost, whilst trying to find his way back, Brady meets various other animals who help him find his way and also ends up incredibly grubby… will he find his way back home in time to get collected by his family? And if he does, will they even like him?
What we love about this story is that it opens up conversations about feelings and insecurities. The pup is worried about being accepted and being liked even though he isn’t as good at some things like his litter-mates; he struggles to catch a ball, he falls off the slide… the puppy being clumsy makes him appear fun and loveable but his worries about being accepted make him totally relatable. Children who have read this book have been encouraged to open up about their own insecurities and feelings and any book which has this effect gets a big thumbs up from us!
Although it may sound like this book is a heavy book- talking about feelings and insecurities- it really isn’t at all. The fun rhyme, little scraps that the pup gets involved in and the bright illustrations, gives this book a light-hearted lift, despite the subject matter of being insecure. It’s very cleverly put together to lift it like it does.
I think this would be an ideal book to read if you are getting a puppy, you can enjoy reading it with children as you look forward to the day that you are picking it up. You can point out that they can be hard work and silly at times and will need lots of looking after so they don’t get lost or need to be helped to be kept clean. It will also be a lovely read for any children going through changes who may be beginning to feel insecure- those in foster care may relate to some of the feelings this pup has or those beginning a new school. The book may help these children to open up and start a conversation about they feel about the new environment they are moving into.
It’s a fun read with an important message and Brady is such a lovable pup that we think this will be a very successful series; we certainly can’t wait to see what he gets up to once he settles into his new home!
It is currently available for pre-order now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Puppy-Pickup-Little-Labradoodle-Book-ebook
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