Holly Webb’s Pet Protection is an Earth Friends story for 7 year olds about a girl who can’t have a pet, so she volunteers at an animal shelter instead.<\/p>\n
Emily is desperate for a dog. Or a cat. Or anything with fur, really (not the tarantula her friend Poppy helpfully suggests). But her house is already bursting. There’s Toby and James, who fight about everything, and two-year-old Sukie, who will only wear her wellies.<\/p>\n
It’s Izzy who has the brilliant idea. Why not help out at the shelter just outside the village?<\/p>\n
Appleby Animal Rescue is an old farmhouse with every outbuilding full. Twenty-three dogs, nine cats, a room of squeaking guinea pigs, a pony and some rescued hens wearing knitted jumpers. Yes, really! It’s run almost single-handed by Lucy, who is worn out, and the roof is leaking.<\/p>\n
Emily falls for Twinkle straight away. She’s a shy little whippet who doesn’t let anyone near her, except Emily. Then there’s Barney, a big old Labrador who’d much rather sit down than go for a walk.<\/p>\n
When Lucy admits she worries the shelter might have to close, Emily and her friend Maya decide to throw it a tenth birthday party and sell tickets. Of course, you need somewhere to hold a party. And that costs money they haven’t got.<\/p>\n
It’s a gentle, warm read with lots of friendship chat and funny family chaos. Toby and James squirt ketchup at each other, hog the computer and pretend they’ve had a bath. Any child with younger brothers or sisters will be nodding along.<\/p>\n
There’s a quieter thread too. Emily sometimes feels like the one Mum never has to worry about, and she’d like a bit of attention for once. It’s handled very lightly, but your reader might recognise the feeling.<\/p>\n
This is the fourth Earth Friends book. The four girls have already run a fashion show and a canal clean-up together, and those get a mention along the way.<\/p>\n
If you’ve got an animal-mad reader who’d happily spend Saturdays hosing out dog pens, they’ll love this one. It’s a lovely nudge that you don’t need to own a pet to help animals.<\/p>\n
To see how the four friends first got together, try Fair Fashion, where Maya is hiding a rather famous secret from her new classmates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Holly Webb’s Pet Protection is an Earth Friends story for 7 year olds about a girl who can’t have a pet, so she volunteers at an animal shelter instead. Emily is desperate for a dog. Or a cat. Or anything with fur, really (not the tarantula her friend Poppy helpfully suggests). But her house is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11836,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":7304,"lr_next_read_anchor":"Fair Fashion","lr_seo_hook":"An animal-mad girl with no room for a pet helps a struggling animal shelter."},"book_tag":[18],"age_group":[19],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[389],"class_list":["post-7303","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-animal-books","age_group-books-for-7-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-holly-webb"],"yoast_title":"Earth Friends 04 – Pet Protection by Holly Webb | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"An animal-mad girl with no room for a pet helps a struggling animal shelter. For ages 7+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n