Wild Thing Gets a Dog

Emma Barnes's Wild Thing Gets a Dog is a very funny family story for 8 year olds about a five-year-old whirlwind and the scruffy dog who comes to stay.

What happens

Kate tells the story, and her little sister Josephine is known to everyone as Wild Thing. You'll see why on the very first page, when the last tin of tuna, the rice and a whole bottle of washing-up liquid turn up in her toy-kitchen stew.

Their dad is a guitarist, and his old band is off on a tour of America. The singer, Wes, needs someone to mind his dog. Dad says absolutely not. Then Wild Thing's burglar trap (a pile of toys balanced above the front door) lands on Wes's head, and suddenly Dad can't say no.

Hound Dog is short like a corgi and white like a Westie, with a spaniel's fluffy tail. He won't go in his basket. He eats all the ham. And somehow, on the very first night, he ends up asleep on Dad's bed.

Wild Thing thinks he's wonderful and starts copying him, from sitting in his basket to gnawing the kitchen table leg. Meanwhile Kate is trying to decide whether she's brave enough to play saxophone in a charity talent show.

It's laugh-out-loud stuff, and Kate is a great narrator. She's the sensible big sister who sighs a LOT, and she tells you exactly how mortifying it is when Wild Thing digs through her laundry basket in front of her friends. (Her fairy pants get picked for tracking practice.) The chaos just keeps coming, from a freezer "Lucky Dip" dinner to Dad being yanked into the park lake by the lead.

The girls' mum has died, which is why Dad won't go on tour any more. It's mentioned simply and doesn't cast a shadow over the fun.

Is there a child in your house who's longed for a dog? They'll love every minute of this.

What to read next

If they want more from Emma Barnes, try Wolfie. Lucie's uncle brings her a dog for a present, but she's pretty sure it's actually a wolf.