My Dog Daisy by Jean Ure
| My Dog Daisy by Jean Ure | |
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| Category: Dyslexia Friendly | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A delightful story about a girl who would love to have a dog. The book, which is dyslexia friendly will appeal to the pre-teen girl of nine and over. Recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 64 | Date: August 2015 |
| Publisher: Barrington Stoke | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1781124963 | |
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Lily did not want a goldfish. Nor did she want a hamster or a cat. She wanted a DOG and whilst she understood what Mum said about not being able to have a dog in the 5th floor flat without a garden she still thought it was unfair. After all, when they lived at Gran's house there was a garden and she could have had a dog, but then Mum and Gran had a row and they moved out. She hadn't even seen Gran for three months and she missed her. And the dog which she couldn't have. Even Keri, her best friend, though that she was going on a bit about the whole thing.
Then Lily met Charlotte in the park and they agreed to share Fred, Charlotte's rather elderly dog. It's a kindness on the old lady's part because she understands Lily's longing to have a dog - and the reason why nothing can be done about it. The only problem is that Fred is elderly. He doesn't go for walks any more: he has a toddle. Lily doesn't mind - well, you don't mind when it's your dog, do you - but Fred's days are numbered. Both Lily and Charlotte are devastated by his loss, but then there's an unexpected solution and a pleasant surprise waiting for Lily at home.
The first thing to say about this book is that it's Jean Ure: you can trust the book and you don't need to read it first to see if you're going to get any questions you'd rather avoid for the moment. Secondly, Jean Ure knows her dogs and she understands the ever-so-slightly pre-teen girl perfectly. She captures Lily's ability to be quite grown up some of the time, but also to cry when she's upset about something. She's feisty and knows her own mind. It's perfect. It's a lovely story too with a real feel-good ending. I loved it.
There's a bonus with this book too: it's dyslexia friendly. Don't worry, the dyslexia-friendly sticker peels off easily and the cover design looks just like the trendy books the other kids are reading. No one is going to be embarrassed. So, what makes the book dyslexia friendly? Well, firstly Barrington Stoke have designed a special font where each character is distinct and pulls the reader on to read the next word. It's printed on an off-white paper, which reduces the glare which can distract some readers and the paper is substantial enough to ensure that there's no bleed through from the reverse of the page. The spacing between words and lines has been carefully judged to give the best reading experience and the text has not been justified as this can mean that readers get lost on the page. The book has clearly defined chapters to give natural rest breaks and it's not just the reader which benefits from that - many parents and carers feel the same way. It's not just people with dyslexia which benefit from these ingenious changes - most young readers will find the books easier to read and more enjoyable. I'm just about into my dotage and recently I've been suffering from eye problems - and Barrington Stoke books are the ones which I can read most easily.
My Dog Daisy has a reading age of eight but an interest age of nine plus. If you look at the right hand side of the barcode on the reverse of the book these details are there, but don't worry - they're not obvious. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
For more dyslexia-friendly book which will appeal to the pre-teen girl we can recommend Honey and Me by Karen McCombie, or for more from Jean Ure, have a look at Star for a Day.
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You can read more book reviews or buy My Dog Daisy by Jean Ure at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My Dog Daisy by Jean Ure at Amazon.com.
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