Waterstones Rolo's Story
4 ratings
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Price: £6.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: A heart-warming tale of one dog's adventure to find a forever home, told from a dog's-eye view. Neglected and unloved by his owner, Rolo decides that he doesn't need a human any more. He can look after himself just fine! But for a puppy living on the streets, each day brings a new struggle for survival. Then Freya comes along. As Rolo learns to trust the girl, he realizes that a real home is what he's been looking for after all. But can he convince Freya's mum to accept a scruffy puppy like him into their lives? For fans of I, COSMO, A DOG'S LIFE and Michael Morpurgo. Waterstones Rolo's Story - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781788951036
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781788951036
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Author: J SYDNEY
Rating: 5
Review: I don’t know if other people experience this but I always think it’s funny how when I buy or receive certain books I immediately think: ‘Oh, so-and-so in my class will love this.’ And so it was with this title from Little Tiger, which immediately made me think of one of my girls because she loved both its sister title Buddy’s Story, when she read it last term, and the wonderful I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak. Recently, she ran out of animal stories from my little library shelf to read but luckily for her – or unluckily, depending on your point of view – she is currently in my little bubble in school as a Key Worker Child and I know that when I take this in she is going to be desperate to read this too. This is exactly the sort of book that a great many of us need right now – a feel-good story that wraps you up in its pages and gives you a metaphorical hug. It’s one which I read in a single sitting last night because I needed a comfy, cosy book to wind down after another long day in school and it is one which many younger readers will enjoy for exactly the same reason. Where Buddy was a detection dog – one trained to support an individual with a medical condition – Rolo is a pet when we first meet him. Unlike a great many pets, however, he is not loved nor is he well-cared for – indeed he doesn’t even have a proper name at the start of the book, being called Mutt by his cruel owner. And, oh boy is his owner cruel. Desperately hungry, Mutt helps himself to a steak sitting on the kitchen counter top, only to be caught after knocking the plate onto the floor; alerting his owner to what he is up to. Afraid that his latest misdemeanour will result in his being tied up again in the back garden, Mutt decides to make a bolt for freedom and runs away. After a week or so of foraging for food as best he can, he meets another stray called Scrap, who takes him under her wing and shows him how to scavenge leftover food from bins. Together, they spend several weeks together in relative calm until the day Scrap is caught by the local dog warden and taken to the pound, leaving Mutt alone once more. Although more able to look after himself than when he was first on the streets, the winter is fast approaching and Mutt decides he needs to find shelter to avoid being outside during the bitterly cold nights. Sneaking around the back of a house, Mutt finds a shed and manages to break in – settling down to sleep amongst the clutter for the night. It is here that he is found in the morning by Freya who is fetching her skateboard ahead of going to school. Although he is terrified of humans after his past experiences, the kindness of Freya coupled with his terrible hunger soon means that he finds himself trusting her and she smuggles him into the house she shares with her mother, hiding him in her bedroom. Of course, it is not long before Freya’s mum discovers the dog, and a smitten Freya begs her to let him stay – something that horrifies her mother because not only is she not a dog-lover, but Mutt is filthy, and smelly too. Initially determined to try to reunite Mutt with his owner, Mum books an appointment for a few days’ time with the vet to see if they can help, but while they wait Freya falls more and more in love with her new fluffy friend. Will Freya and Mutt – now renamed Rolo – be able to win Mum round, or will she carry out her threat to rehome the puppy and break her daughter’s heart? Rolo is a personality that many will recognise – dog lover or not. He is full of fun and games, a bundle of energy and desperate to find someone with whom he can spend his time playing and enjoying life. Freya is lonely – an only child whose mother spends a great deal of her time working, like – I suspect – those of a great many younger readers. When Freya finds the dog hiding in the shed, each of them is in desperate need of the other but Mutt has been too badly hurt to see her as anything other than a source of food and shelter at first, not realising that not all humans (or two legs, as he calls them) are the same. While for Freya their relationship is love at first sight, he needs to be won round – as does Freya’s mother who has the final say as to whether or not he stays. For anyone worried that the details of Rolo’s abuse by his original owner will be too much for their child, please be assured that they are covered in an age-appropriate, sensitive way and are absolutely necessary to the plot. Sadly, there will be those children reading this who will recognise this kind of treatment from first-hand experience – either of their pet or, even more awfully, of themselves. Books such as this which cover the subject of any form of abuse often open a channel for children to disclose such goings-on to those of us in school who they can trust, and I dearly hope that that will be the case here. Having loved this book as I did, it will give me enormous pleasure to put it in the hands of the girl I mentioned earlier, when I take it into school this week. I know that she will love it as much as I did and I’m certain she will be recommending it to her fellow Year 5s, when they return, as she did Buddy’s Story. I did try searching to see if/when there will be a third in the series with no success, but will be keeping my fingers crossed for one. Until then, enormous thanks go – as always – to Little Tiger for my gifted copy, received ahead of publication on February 4th. A very well-deserved 5 out of 5 stars.
Author: Bookworm
Rating: 4
Review: Sent as a gift, but believe it was enjoyed by a 6 and 8 year old. They listened to the story at bedtime and found the first part of Rolo’s story a bit sad and cried with their Mum over his initial bad treatment!! Fortunately subsequent nights were happier.
