By Catherine Rayner
Paperback
From the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal comes the most adorable children’s book about dogs ever written. I suspect Catherine who wrote and illustrated the book does herself have a sausage dog, as the adorable and pitch perfect observations of Otto, a dachshund who loves his bed, (as we know from the Riverside’s own sleepy, fluffy, sausage king Zeus) are spot on.
Without giving away any spoilers, Otto has a real love for inviting other dogs of all different shapes and sizes into his bed, which is also his favourite place. At first, he loves the warm bodies of his canine friends and sleeps like a log. He is so friendly and enthusiastic that he keeps inviting new dogs into his bed, but before long he doesn’t get a wink of sleep!
However, our Otto is extremely resourceful and goes out shopping to find many new dog beds. He drags them back home to surround his own beloved bed, so that all the dogs can sleep around each other with more than enough space. But will Otto miss being quite so curled up with his new friends? How can he remain snuggly and warm whilst also getting some good shut eye? As we have already discovered Otto is THE top dog, so how will he work the situation to ensure he can get his cake and eat it?
The themes of sleep and dogs and friendship are perfect for preparing kids for a happy night’s sleep. The illustrations clearly come from a dog lover as each breed is perfectly realised and their personalities jump off the page. Zeus is a fan!
Review by Eleanor