I Cosmo

This story follows a year or so in the life of Cosmo and his family, but especially Max who is Cosmo’s best friend. Unfortunately this is a year when there are growing frictions within the family and Cosmo feels he has to try and keep everything together. However Cosmo is a thirteen year old Golden Retriever, which makes helping out very difficult. As part of Max’s plan to help keep the family together the two start to attend dog/human dance classes in the company of Uncle Reggie, who is an ex-military dog trainer. The idea is that they will win a competition and be given roles in a forthcoming film, so that no one will ever try and part
them. How these two carry out their plan and what the end result is will have you reaching for the tissues, but whether that is in a good or bad way you will have to read the book to find out.

This is a truly wonderful story of the bonds that are created between dogs and their humans. Although we cannot know what our dogs are thinking this really does have a sense of truth about it. Having had a dog the same age as Cosmo I can relate to the issues of ageing that he finds creeping up on him. The whole behaviour of the dog will resonate with anyone whose pet has rolled in something, dug up the garden or destroyed part of the home; but of course Cosmo does not see that he is doing anything wrong, it is just part of his nature. The other part of the story, which follows the falling apart of a marriage and the effect that has on the children will have a tremendous impact on many readers. Even young children will know people in their class, family or
friendship group where things are going badly wrong and hopefully this will help the young people understand that it is not their fault and that their parents still care for them, even though the adults’ relationship has changed. I absolutely loved this book
and particularly Cosmo, who is a real hero.