Age Range: 6 to 9
Can The Pocket Dog help Kitty solve her friendship problems? Holly Webb’s new story explores the emotions and feelings that can arise when a friendship dynamic is changed by the arrival of somebody new.
The Story: Kitty starts to get jealous when her friends spend time with Erin, a new girl at school. Her feelings of loneliness increase throughout the book until her relationships with all of them, especially Bella, become seriously strained. When Kitty and Bella’s families go on holiday together the situation becomes even more tense. Then Frank, Kittty’s puppy, goes missing, and Bella and Kitty must work together to find him. But will Frank’s disappearance also help them to solve their differences?
The Pocket Dog is called Frank and he’s so small that he can fit in Kitty’s Dad’s pocket. He’s introduced in the first chapter along with the rest of Kitty’s family and Bella, Kitty’s close friend and next door neighbour. The action then moves to school where we also meet Louisa and Maisie. Erin joins the friends at their table and Kitty starts to feel left out as everybody rallies round to help make Erin feel welcome. As time goes on Kitty starts to worry that her friends like Erin better than her. Her hurt manifests itself in harsh words to her friends, she has nightmares and provokes situations that will hurt her friends in the same way that she is hurting. By the time the holidays arrive Kitty has upset them all and just wants to hide in her room with Frank but then Dad and Bella’s parents surprise them with a week away together. Things come to a head when Frank escapes from the holiday cottage and Bella and Kitty are thrown together to look for him.
Holly Webb has explored the relationships between friends in a way that children will understand and identify with. Friendships between school children change and develop quickly and it can be hard for them to understand the range of emotions that often accompany them. Holly’s book acknowledges that negative emotions, hurt and anger can be a normal part of friendships but her use of ‘The Pocket Dog’ also provides her characters with the tools to find a solution to their situation.
If you have a child who is struggling with friendship issues this would be a great book to read with them. We have a copy of The Pocket Dog to give away. You can win a copy by entering here.
Author: Holly Webb / Illustrator: Sharon Rentta
Thank you to Scholastic for sending us The Pocket Dog and for generously giving away a copy to one of our readers.
My girls would love this as anything to do with dogs and cats win for them! Thanks for sharing with #ReadWithMe
It’s lovely the way that Holly uses an animal to help Kitty solve her problems, animals can be so loyal to their owners 🙂
One of my daughters loves dogs so would love this! I’ve entered. Fab comp #TriedTested
Good luck Emily!
Sounds like a lovely book for children with a good message to share too. #TriedTested
It is great how Holly has managed to weave a message through an enjoyable story.
This sounds like a lovely book. I love the idea of the story exploring the feelings that children may feel as they navigate school friendships. #TriedTested
Children’s friendships can be a bit of a minefield and in our experience the emotions that accompany them can sometimes be difficult to deal with. I love the way that this book does that, especially helping with more negative emotions.
Son 2 loves Holly Webb stories. And I think they are pretty cute too #TriedTested
I’m amazed at how many books Holly Webb has written!
I’ve heard such good things about Holly Webb books. Can’t wait until my three are old enough to enjoy longer books like this.
#readwithme
Holly Webb has written so many books that there must be one to suit every child!
The cover of the book is sooo cute, that’s enough to get any child hooked into the book!
This looks interesting and something I can see useful, especially as Little Ones are at school and there are friendship challenges, and children jockeying for position constantly.
An Interesting book to consider.
#TriedTested
It’s a very cute cover. I think this story is great because it shows the negative and positive sides of friendship, it shows that different emotions are normal too.
I’m looking for books about dogs to share with my grandson. This sounds great. Thanks for the giveaway. Fingers crossed 🙂
#ReadwithMe
Good luck!! There’s another dog in the book too, an old labrador called Shadow.
We were sent this book too but it was a little old for my 4yo. It sounds like such a great story and a brilliant look at those common friendship problems for children.
#readwithme
Yes, my feeling is that it’s for children who are a bit older and have already spent some time in school. It was perfect for my eight year old.
Awww this sounds like a lovely book, what a great way for children to learn about friendships #triedtested
I like the fact that the story shows that negative emotions and jealousy can also be a normal part of a friendship.