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

AUTHOR: Lisa Papp

SERIES: Madeline Finn, #2

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: March 1, 2019

RATING: Ten loud-yelps-of-joy stars!

In a Nutshell: OMG, this picture book, y’all! I loved it so much! Amazing in every way – story, graphics, emotions, and message. The first picture book ever to make me cry. Much, much recommended! Second in the Madeline Finn series, but works as a standalone.

Plot Preview:

Ever since Madeline’s life changed after meeting Bonnie the library dog, she has been begging her mother for a puppy of her own. Mum has finally said “Yes!” Thrilled, Madeline and her mother go to the library to select one of Bonnie’s puppies as a pet. Instead, one of Bonnie’s puppies ends up choosing Madeline, and she happily names him Star.

When Mrs. Dimple, the librarian and Bonnie’s owner, tells Madeline about animal shelters as being the other place where pets come from, Madeline and her mom visit the shelter. There, the little girl is distressed to see the lonely animals looking sad. Determined to make a difference, Madeline hatches a plan. And it involves… you guessed it… books!

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

I have no idea how I stumbled upon this series. In fact, I didn’t even know that it was a series. I somehow chanced upon Book One: Madeline Finn and the Library Dog, saw that it was listed as the first of the series, and decided to try all four books. When the first book hit the five-star mark, I was fairly sure that the next book won't live up to my unrealistically high expectations. How wrong I was!

Yet again, this story effectively combines the two joys of most sensible humans: dogs and reading. It’s amazing to see how well the plot gives both dogs and books equal importance without making the plot feel farfetched.

I loved seeing the new confidence in our little reading superstar Madeline Finn. I was also thrilled that she got a *star* in this book as well, albeit a canine one this time around.

The visit to the shelter comes with its own set of emotions. Through a simple yet effective method, the story succeeds in drawing attention to the problem faced by shelters, as well as what we ordinary citizens can do within our capacity to help those animals.

A special shoutout to the message that is repeated multiple times in the book: “Love is most important!” Such an important lesson for all of us to remember, especially these days where hatred seems to be ruling the roost.

Not gonna lie, this lovely book made me cry. I don’t think any picture book so far has made me leak both sad tears as well as happy tears. It gave me all kind of warm fuzzies in my heart.

The page layout is once again impressive, with there being the perfect balance between textual and graphical content. The language is quite accessible for the target audience of readers aged 4-8 years.

The illustrations are just as adorable, with the character’s expressions being the highlight of the lot. The colour tones are warm and soothing, perfect for the tone of the plot.

The audiobook, clocking at ten minutes, is once again narrated by Jill Frutkin, and she again does a fabulous job. My feedback of the audio version will be the same as for the first book: amazing to hear, but I missed the graphics.

I don’t think there’s any doubt about my recommendation, but just in case you want it in writing…

Much, much, much recommended! I had adored the first book as well, but to my astonishment, this book surpasses even that high. Though each picture book in the series is a standalone, it would be better to read them in sequence, not just because you can appreciate Madeline’s newfound confidence better but also because… why would you want to miss out on the amazing Book One?

This was again a library read for the audio version, with some cheating by watching the lovely Youtube version read by ‘Storytime With Lorelei’ so that I could peek at the graphics.