Devon the Dog's Adventure product reviews

When I first looked at Devon the Dog's Adventure I thought it was a simple book that the kids wouldn't be very interested. I was wrong. I have re-read it so many times now that some of the kids are reading along with me. You would have thought as a former New Entrant teacher and now as a homebased educarer and mother of a five year old and another that is 3.5 I would be able to judge what kids would like in books.

The first thing that appealed to the kids was a message and drawing and autograph from the author/illustrator Jonathon Short inside the front cover. I don't know if he does this for every book but we all thought it was special. This started us talking about the role of an author and illustrator in the process of making a book. They all decided that Jonathon Short was a very clever man to have done both tasks. I personally admire anyone that is able to do it.

The story itself introduced the younger children to many animals they hadn't come across before like the beaver (which also featured on the front cover) and the albatross. I thought the most important thing about this book was the discussion I had with the children about the different animals. For one of my two year olds it was a case of convincing her (with the help of my four year olds) that the bird was a penguin, a kiwi or an albatross. For the older kids each time we read it they would ask another question about one of the animals. This book was definitely a good one for adding to their knowledge and oral language.

The story was short enough to read along with Devon the Dog's Farm Adventure and still maintain the children's attention. The children also enjoyed picking the book up and reading it to themselves.