Big Dog and Little Dog Go Flying; Who Loves Mr Tubs?

From a series that aims to provide ‘simple stories for early readers’, these two titles illustrated in full colour throughout effectively bridge the gap between the picture book and the shorter novel.

In Who Loves Mr Tubs? Mr Tubs, the teddy bear, finds himself replaced by Suki, a trendy, plastic doll. When Kitty realises she misses her teddy bear, he has already been given to her baby brother. Throughout the story the toys’ thoughts are seen in ‘think bubbles’, providing a further level of narration. It’s a gentle story, incorporating a small rite of passage that will ring true with many young readers.

Big Dog and Little Dog Go Flying has the two central characters building a plane and setting off on their travels only to find they have taken off without a landing button. The story is good fun and there are some entertaining connections made in the final pages, to solve the pilots’ problem.

The amount of educational guidance on the back cover of these titles give them the feel of a reading scheme. It would be a shame if this put readers off as these two delightful stories make for a pleasurable read.