Wedgie & Gizmo 2 – Wedgie & Gizmo vs the Toof

Suzanne Selfors' Wedgie & Gizmo vs the Toof is the second Wedgie & Gizmo book, a very funny pet story for 8 year olds told by a happy corgi and a guinea pig who plans to rule the world.

What happens

Gizmo calls himself an Evil Genius (capital letters and all). He wears glasses, reads comic books and naps about twelve times a day. He'd also like you to know he's a cavy, NOT a pig. Today's evil goal is to recruit an army of other cavies, and to do that he needs a flying machine.

Wedgie is a corgi in a red cape. He LOVES everything. Snacks, the school bus, rolling in stinky things, his family and the "Furry Potato" (that's Gizmo, who can't stand him).

Then a new girl moves in across the road with a piglet called Pinkie. She wears a sparkly crown and has one big wonky tooth, so little Jackson names her the Toof. Wedgie falls instantly in love with his new best friend. Gizmo is horrified. And he's quite sure the dog and the pig are now teaming up against him.

The chapters flip between the two of them, and it's hilarious. Gizmo is grand and pompous and says things like "Muh-ha-ha!" Wedgie just can't believe how good life is. Then the humans chat away underneath, written like a little play, and neither animal really understands what's going on.

There's a sweet, real story in there too. Jasmine is desperate for Wedgie to win a trophy in the school's pet parade after he ate the principal's speech last year. But Pinkie can dance and do tricks, and Wedgie can't (unless rolling on a dead slug counts). Jasmine starts to feel her new friend is copying her. It's a very relatable wobble about friendship and jealousy, and Wedgie gets jealous in his own doggy way too.

It's also quite gross in places, which most kids will love. Wedgie happily eats a bit of guinea pig poo off the floor!

If you've got a reader who likes animal stories with lots of jokes, or who has ever wondered what their own pets are REALLY thinking, this is a perfect fit. And the bit where Gizmo orders a drone online with Grandma's credit card will make any parent laugh too.

What to read next

For more guinea pigs with secret lives, Guinea Pigs Online is a good one to try. Fuzzy and Coco let themselves out of their hutch every morning in London, and Fuzzy dreams of cooking fancy meals for his owners.