Thursday 12 March 2015

Picture book review : The Dog Detectives In An American Adventure - Zoa


It's not easy to find a picture book that is as entertaining as it is educational, but that's exactly what The Dog Detectives In An American Adventure manages to achieve.


Miss Imogen the Opossum has flown away from her home in New York by accident and now needs to get back home. Luckily, when she crash lands in San Francisco, the friendly and helpful doggie detectives Deputy Poco Loco and Detective Jack offer to take her back home and they know a short cut.


Unfortunately (for Miss Imogen but fortunately for us, because it makes a great adventure !), this short cut involves zigzagging across the United States, taking in Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana and Washington DC !


It's a lovely story that aslso acts as a great introduction to American geography and some of the iconic American monuments (Golden Gate Bridge, White House, Statue of Liberty...) and wildlife (polar bears, alligators and javelinas, which even I had never heard of). I was slightly perturbed by the fact that they cover these huge distances on bicycles - it would have made more sense to be in a plane or a car - but Pierre didn't even seem to think about the logistics of the trip. However, it turns out that the authors Fin & Zoa have cycled over 16,000 miles through 21 countries with their two rescue dogs Jack and Paco in tow so, as mindblowing as it sounds, it is humanly (and caninely !) possible ! (You can read all about their real life adventures with the dogs on their blog.)


The final pages of the book are filled with American facts, adding even more cultural and geographical background to the story, with a few details that even I didn't know.

This is the fourth book in the Dog Detectives series - so far they have already starred in An Outback Odyssey, The Great Grizzly North and Lost in London. There's a gift set called Noses For Trouble which brings together all three so I think I'll look out for that to catch up with their previous adventures. I think I enjoyed reading and discussing this one as much as the kids !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £6.99

  • Paperback: 32 pages
  • Publisher: Maverick Arts Publishing (28 Jan. 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1848860986
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848860988
  • Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 0.1 x 1.9 cm



Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.

1 comment:

  1. Another fab book to add to the list - always looking for something for mine to read. Think next time I am stuck on what to get, I will pop over here :p Thank you x

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...