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Dog was the runt of the litter. Unwanted. Half-drowned and left to die on a rubbish tip, you can imagine better starts in life for this scruffy-looking little puppy. But it's not so bad. Black Nose takes him under her wing and gives him a little of her milk and a lot of her love. More importantly, she teaches him the rubbish tip ropes and gives him as much advice about doghood and ownerhood as she possibly can. And then... there's an accident. The last thing Black Nose says to Dog is ''If you go to the town, watch out for the cars. Dodge, little one, remember.''
Dog takes this as an instruction. He knows he'll never be happy living on the tip without Black Nose and so he sets off in search of the town and a mistress to train. But humans are odd. Odder than dogs, that's for sure, and his search proves much more difficult than he could ever have expected. And then, he finds Plum. Could ''she'' be the one?
It's not too anthropomorphic - Dog stays a dog throughout, and it's quirky and sweet and kind. Underneath, it has some real points to make about the commitment required in owning pets and the shared love and happiness an animal can bring to one's life.
A word for the wonderful translation by Sarah Adams too - it's pitch perfect. Some scenes take place during the French mass summer decampment, for which there isn't an English equivalent , and if I hadn't been looking out for lapses with my (boring but worthy) reviewer's eye, I'd not have missed a bit, so cleverly does she cover it.
This one is perfect for all animal lovers aged nine and up.