The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog : Master of Disguise is a riotous romp of a story which is great fun to read along with the kids. As far as I can tell, it is the eighth book in the series (I might have missed one or two !), but it was the first one that we have read and it doesn't matter at all. I may have to buy the rest of the series now though, as it was such a huge hit with the family ! (There's a lovely box set available with the first seven titles, which I added to my amazon link below - looks like a good idea for Christmas.)
The book features Streaker, the fastest dog in the world, who is always getting into trouble because she's so over-exuberant. In this book, Trevor's dad has decided that enough is enough and is determined to send the manic mutt off to doggy boot camp. Trevor ropes in his best friend (but definitely not GIRLfriend !) Tina to give Streaker a makeover, using her mum's hair dye and extensions, so that Streaker will be unrecognisable and escape her fate.
Pierre was squealing with glee and howling with laughter at the silly antics, especially when Streaker went on a pant-stealing spree and ended up with a pair on her head ! It's not all complete silliness though - the book does take a (slightly !) more serious look at the complicated things that kids may be trying to deal with, such as the first confusing crush (or being the object of one) and not being intimidated by the local louts. It was great to see the bullies get their comeuppance at the end of the book.
It's a proper chapter book, but is not overly ambitious for beginner readers. Each chapter is only a few pages long and the text is broken up with lots of amusing illustrations.
It does have long texts but they are full of funny jokes and exciting shenanigans so even reluctant readers will be happy to persevere.
We've discovered that Jeremy Strong has lots of other books out, with equally irreverent and hilarious-sounding titles that I'm sure the Madhouse kids would love just as much : My Brother's Famous Bottom, There's A Pharaoh In Our Bath!, My Sister's Got a Spoon Up Her Nose and My Mum's Going to Explode!, to name but a few.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £5.99
- Paperback: 160 pages
- Age Range: 7 - 9 years
- Publisher: Puffin (2 Jun. 2016)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0141361433
- ISBN-13: 978-0141361437
Disclosure : We received a copy of the book in order to write an honest review.
My nephew loves reading
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect for him