Dog Tales (21st Anniversary Edition) by Emily Rodda

Title: Dog Tales (21^st Anniversary Edition)

Author: Emily Rodda

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st June 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: The Dolan Street dogs are Max 1, Max 2, Barney, Scruffy, Gina and Mavis. (Mavis is really a goat, but no-one has ever told her this.) All sorts of interesting and unusual things happen in Dolan Street, and the dogs are always at the centre of them.

There’s the spooky excitement of ‘The Haunting’, for example. And the drama of ‘The Night The Burglars Came’. And who could forget Barney´s magic ‘Sausage Appearing Spell’?

~*~

Meet the Dolan Street Dogs – Max 1 and Max 2 – twins, Barney, Scruffy, Gina and Mavis – dear old Mavis, who thinks she is a dog, and doesn’t realise she is a goat. And nobody has ever told her that she’s a goat. The dogs gather while their Pets are at work and play, watch Dog Hospital and make sure Dolan Street is safe. They cast magic sausage appearing spells, thwart burglars, and outwit a travelling sales-dog. Anything unusual that happens in Dolan Street always revolves around the dogs – so can they keep things safe and get back to watching Dog Hospital?

This fun book is a clever tale of life from the perspective of a gang of dogs and the lives they live in their street and is perhaps one of Emily Rodda’s less well-known books. She is known by many for Deltora Quest, but I think it can be the quieter books, the ones that get less attention, that are the stars of an author’s writing journey. Dog Tales is a gentle and funny book about dogs and their lives – and they act, speak, and think just as we think our dogs do, which makes this a joyful read. I loved the array of doggie personalities, and the way they interacted with each other – and peripherally, their Pets whose presence was felt and known but not always on the page. I loved this because it meant that the dog characters got to shine.  

I think this can be read as a novel or as an anthology of short stories. It works both ways because some things are connected, and there is a narrative thread throughout, yet at times, it felt like the stories were individual and separate from each other, which made it work well and ensured that however you read this book, you won’t be disappointed or unable to follow the story, or stories.

Emily Rodda’s books – the ones that I’ve read – cover a variety of genres, characters, and settings, and I love that she does this, as it means that she is one of those authors for whom there will always be something to read and enjoy, and perhaps reading one Emily Rodda book will become a gateway into in the rest of her books and backlist. I think this book is an pure delight for dog lovers, and animal lovers alike, because it is so joyful and innocent. It’s one of many books with animal characters, and each one does something different. It’s always interesting to see how different stories use their animal characters, and this fun book will be great for readers aged seven or older, and great for a read aloud as well, because I think younger readers will enjoy laughing along and have lots of fun with the Dolan Street Dogs, just as I did.