Madeline Finn and the Library Dog - Lisa Papp - ★★★★★

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR:

SERIES: Madeline Finn, #1

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2016

RATING: 5 stars!

In a Nutshell: A gorgeous picture book about a little girl who struggles with reading and finds some unexpected help. Amazing story, amazing illustrations, amazing motivational lesson, and one cute surprise at the end that made me go “Whoa!” Much recommended! Can’t wait to try the rest of the series.

Plot Preview:

Madeline Fin is a little girl who doesn’t like to read, especially to read out loud. Her teacher and her mother both encourage her to keep trying, but Madeline is frustrated at her lack of progress. She yearns for a star sticker but how can she get it if she doesn’t want to read anymore?

One Saturday, her mother takes her to the library, where the librarian, who knows that Madeline hates reading, asks her, “Do you want to read to a dog?” Hesitantly, Madeline goes to beautiful white dog named Bonnie and tries to read to her. Do you think Bonnie will be able to help Madeline read better? Woof!

The story is written in Madeline’s first-person perspective.

Most bibliophiles loves two themes in fiction: books about books, and books about dogs. This picture book has both! A winner even before it begins!

Thankfully, the book is able to capitalise on both the above factors to the best extent. I simply love how realistically portrayed Madeline’s sadness at her struggle with words, and more importantly, how her progress wasn’t instantaneous but steady and driven by her persistence and diligence. It’s nice for children to learn that hard work can reap long-term rewards, especially in today’s world of instant gratification.

The story is excellently written. Though a picture book, it offers much depth to Madeline’s emotions, the support of the adults around her, and of course, the role Bonnie plays in her turnaround.

What I loved most is that there is no particular reason assigned for Madeline’s trouble with reading; it only states what happens when she reads. Does she just hate books? Is there a problem with her eyesight? Hearing impairment? Is she dyslexic? Is there a language barrier? As such, the story is generic enough to work for any child who struggles to read and needs the motivation to practise more. Plus, the book stresses not just on Madeline’s reluctance to read but also on her apprehension to read aloud in front of everyone. So it can also work for children who do know how to read but have a fear of doing it in front of the gawking eyes of their classmates.

The text is nicely spaced out, with only a few lines per page.. As the book is clearly targeted at reluctant readers, this approach makes tremendous sense as kids won't get bogged down by cluttered sentences. Some of the lines have words in CAPS for emphasis – a helpful way of making little readers know the importance of stressing some words. The language is quite accessible for the target audience of 4-8 years. Because of the writing style, the book would work excellently as a readaloud option.

The illustrations, sketched by the author herself, are outstanding. The cover art itself indicates how cosy the internal graphics are. Madeline’s expressions convey her inner conflicts beautifully. There’s a lot happening on every page even in the background, allowing little readers enough time to take in the story a page at a time and at their own pace after relishing the artwork.

On the whole, this was a delight in every way. Story, message, inspiration, illustration – all the key points of the book were bang on target. Bonnie the dog is the icing on the cake. (See the cover to gaze at Bonnie’s scruffy scrumptiousness!)

The audiobook, clocking at about seven minutes, is narrated by Jill Frutkin. She does a fabulous job, speaking clearly and slowly so as to enunciate every word well and with much emotion. Her voice reflects Madeline’s joys and worries convincingly. Despite the excellent audio production, my heart was won over more by the picture book. A picture book ought to be actually read as at least half its impact comes from the graphics.

This is the first book of the Madeline Finn series, and I can't wait to get my hands on the remaining three books!

Much, much recommended. This would be a great option for all little hesitant readers who want that little extra push to keep trying. It would work well at homes as well as in classrooms.

5 woofilicious stars!

This was a library read. (Kinda! My library only had the audio version. I guess the book doesn’t have a digital edition. So I cheated a bit and looked at a YouTube video to check out the actual page layout and graphics. I’ll have to do the same for the remaining books as well. 🤐)