Carlie Sorosiak’s I, Cosmo is a warm, funny dog’s-eye story for 9 year olds about a golden retriever who’s decided it’s his job to hold his family together.<\/p>\n
Cosmo is thirteen. His hips ache, his muzzle has gone white and he has very firm opinions. Turtles are inferior. Giraffes are stupid. And the sheepdog at the end of the street is pure evil (it once glared at him with red eyes while wearing a pink tutu, so you can see his point).<\/p>\n
He adores his boy, Max, who’s twelve and wants to be an astronaut. He’s devoted to little Emmaline too, and he’d do anything for Mom and Dad.<\/p>\n
The trouble is that Mom and Dad keep arguing. Halloween ends in raised voices in the kitchen. Thanksgiving goes worse, partly because Cosmo knocks the turkey tray off a stool and eats as much as he can off the floor (you can’t really blame him). Then, out on the porch, Max says a word Cosmo has only ever heard in films. Divorce.<\/p>\n
What makes it such a lovely read is Cosmo’s voice. He’s pompous and loving and a little bit ridiculous, all at once. He takes being a big brother VERY seriously. A lot of what he knows about humans comes from the Discovery Channel and old films, and his favourite is Grease. One of his best memories is Mom and Dad dancing barefoot in the kitchen years ago. He’d love to dance himself, if only his back legs would let him.<\/p>\n
Worth knowing before you hand it over. This is a story about a marriage in trouble, told by someone who can smell the sadness in the kitchen. Max cries in his bedroom and begs Cosmo never to leave him. The fear that a divorce would split Cosmo from Max runs right through the opening chapters. For a child living through the same thing it could be a comfort or it could be too close, so it’s worth a look first.<\/p>\n
For a dog-loving reader who doesn’t mind a few tears alongside the laughs, it’s a real treat. Who hasn’t wondered what their dog is really thinking?<\/p>\n
If they fall for Cosmo, try My Life as a Cat, also by Carlie Sorosiak. This time the animal telling the story is an alien who meant to arrive on Earth as a park ranger and ended up as a stray cat instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carlie Sorosiak’s I, Cosmo is a warm, funny dog’s-eye story for 9 year olds about a golden retriever who’s decided it’s his job to hold his family together. Cosmo is thirteen. His hips ache, his muzzle has gone white and he has very firm opinions. Turtles are inferior. Giraffes are stupid. And the sheepdog at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12594,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":8194,"lr_next_read_anchor":"My Life as a Cat","lr_seo_hook":"An ageing golden retriever sets out to keep his arguing family together."},"book_tag":[18],"age_group":[24],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[162],"class_list":["post-7728","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-animal-books","age_group-books-for-9-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-carlie-sorosiak"],"yoast_title":"I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"An ageing golden retriever sets out to keep his arguing family together. For ages 9+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n