Dog Dottington

Margaret Chamberlain's slightly batty illustrations suit this story very well. The Dottington family members are all frightened of something, from grandma, who's frightened of spiders, to Dad, who's frightened of brown envelopes! They decide they need a large dog, who will frighten away the nasties (not sure it works on brown envelopes, though) and so Hero comes to the house. Unfortunately, he's even more of a coward than the rest of the family, so it's through protecting the dog that they come to terms with their own fears. Comic, but with an interesting message. This odd-ball picture book will be popular with all who have irrational fears... or rational ones - like a fear of brown envelopes.