The Cloud Spotter
Tom McLaughlin
Bloomsury Children’s Books
Franklin (aka The Cloudspotter) is something of a loner who spends his time watching the clouds, all kinds of clouds that he sees through his various optical devices. Indeed it’s through these that he gets his adventures: underwater,

as a racing car driver, even as King of the Castle. All is well until along comes The Scruffy Dog; seemingly she too is searching for something, not his clouds, hopes the Cloudspotter. But that canine becomes a shadow and even gets herself into Cloudspotter’s adventures. And that’s when a decision is made. The Scruffy Dog must go. She does – skywards ; but is being alone all that The Cloudspotter had hoped? Or is there room in his life for …

especially another cloudspotter.
Quirkily delightful characterisation, offbeat visuals and, as with Tom McLaughlin’s The Story Machine, a splendid celebration of the power of the imagination and of friendship. All my readings have elicited positive responses from 5s to 8s.

I Have a Dog
Charlotte Lance
Allen & Unwin
I’ve never wanted to own a dog – far from it but I have to admit to being enchanted by the exuberant, shaggy canine owned by the narrator of this offbeat, captivating little book. I’m just glad he’s not a member of my household. Pretty much everything is inconvenient so far as the boy is concerned from the moment he wakes, when he has breakfast, gets dressed, engages in a spot of excavating …

or just wants to play. And really, that’s all his pet wants to do.

On occasions however this inconvenient creature can be highly convenient – he’s pretty useful when something accidentally gets broken, he’s a great flight launcher, disgusting dinner demolisher, cuddle on the sofa during scary TV programme companion/comforter and finally, bed-wrecker…

Charlotte Lance uses a muted colour palette for her gently humorous watercolour illustrations of the canine-caused chaos and the contrasting companionship; and by making the patterned text minimal, allows the visuals to do most of the talking. It’s just the thing for dog lovers and anyone needing a reason not to become a dog owner.

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