Official Review: Puppy's First Night, Featuring Sparkle D...

[Mercelle]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Puppy's First Night, Featuring Sparkle De Barkle and her Favourite Furry Friends" by Bec McGregor.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Puppy's First Night, Featuring Sparkle De Barkle and her Favourite Furry Friends is a beautifully illustrated Children's Book written by Bec McGregor. It is an instructional manual detailing how to take care of dogs right from when they are born. This information is aimed at children and other people who wish to adopt a furry friend.

The book begins by introducing the reader to a litter of newly born puppies with the protagonist being Sparkle, a Havanese dog. It states how to take care of the young ones through various stages of development. This information includes the behavior of the puppies, the kind of care they need and what is best for them to eat as they begin to wean themselves from their mother's milk. The author also describes what to look out for when adopting a puppy, how to and reasons to puppy proof a home plus the ideal routine to follow to make the animal adjust seamlessly to his or her new surroundings.

What impressed me most is that the book is written in three perspectives: The author's instructional perspective, the adoptive family's perspective, and the dogs' perspectives. These three perspectives blended and intertwined beautifully and provided a dazzling richness to the storyline. The language is simple and the story is well paced, with an almost comic book effect to it. I appreciated that the author provided a glossary at the end explaining words that might elude children. This is done in a child-friendly way, with explanations like

Breed (verb) – To put a mommy dog and daddy dog together to make puppies.

This made me chuckle.

The author also goes out of her way to provide information about different dog breeds, detailing their nature and characteristics. This section was especially enjoyable to read because it was written in the first person point of view, from the dogs' perspective and felt like each dog was sending out a resume to prospective families to consider them for adoption. This segment will greatly amplify children's analytical and decision-making skills.

As a dog owner, I was pleased to learn valuable information about how to improve the quality of life for my pet. I was quite shocked to discover all the things I have been doing wrong, especially when it comes to food. While the author mentioned foods that aren't suitable for dogs, she didn't mention what dogs should eat. Saying that dogs should be fed with "high-quality dog meal" wasn't enough. It would have been helpful for her to list the ingredients to look out for when buying dog food. The author recognizes her shortcomings and informs readers that this is not a definitive guide and they are free to seek additional information.

That said, I highly appreciate that the book seems to be professionally edited and I couldn't point out a single flaw in the writing. That coupled with the lovely illustrations and the aesthetic appeal of the pages makes me award it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. It is a book I would recommend to children of ages 4-10, parents, prospective dog owners and dog lovers.

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Puppy's First Night, Featuring Sparkle De Barkle and her Favourite Furry Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Mercy Bolo's review? Post a comment saying so!

[MsTri]

This sounds like a simply fascinating manual. I don't have any children, but I do have a fur-child, so I'm always interested in learning more about her and how to better care for her. The multiple perspectives sounds intriguing, as does the section on different dog breeds. Thanks so much for the very thorough and enjoyable review.

[Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha]

A children's book written from three perspectives? Sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing this review. Certainly got me interested in reading!

[kandscreeley]

I love the name Sparkle De Barkle! How cute. I think it's great for kids to realize all that it takes to raise a dog before buying one. It sounds like this would be good for that. Thanks!

[Mercelle]

Thank you for your feedback.
I hope you all get to read it and learn more about dogs. It's a plus that the author has vast experience interacting with both children and animals.

[Kat Berg]

I remember when I first got my dog ages ago. I read all the books, and they were, without exception, pretty boring, even if informative. This sounds like something I would have enjoyed, just for fun, when I was doing my research! It is also great that it is children friendly, because they are often the ones that make it the hardest to train the dog. thanks for the review.

[Mercelle]

I remember when I first got my dog ages ago. I read all the books, and they were, without exception, pretty boring, even if informative. This sounds like something I would have enjoyed, just for fun, when I was doing my research! It is also great that it is children friendly because they are often the ones that make it the hardest to train the dog. thanks for the review.

You're welcome. As a dog owner, this is a book I will read again and again.

[Jenny2845]

This sounds like a great book for all ages! The way the story is described as being from several points of view is appealing. I know my son would love to read this book. Thank you for the review.☺

[Izesicle]

Taking care of our dog was one of my responsibilities when I was younger. I would have geeked over this book.

Thanks for stopping by my review.

[Butterfly1987]

Sounds very interesting can't wait to read this book to my neices and nefews.

[CommMayo]

Sounds cute and I like how the author approached the whole sex/breeding aspect. Always an interesting thing to talk about with kids.

[Ashiyya Tariq]

The book is interesting and provides valuable information about pets meal. I think think, this book will equally appeal both children and adult readers. Thanks for your worthy review.