Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Sound familiar? That’s because the Hairy Maclary series, written and illustrated by Lynley Dodd, is one of New Zealand’s (and the world’s) best-loved picture books. Who can’t love that cheeky wee dog, Hairy Maclary, and all his furry mates – from Bottomley Potts (covered in spots), to the villain of many books, Scarface Claw! Hairy Maclary (or ‘HM’ for short) is a small hairy dog created by Lynley Dodd. HM can be described as a ‘bitser’, which means he’s of mixed breed. “Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy” was first published in 1983 and the series has gone on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide. HM’s adventures are usually in the company of his other animal friends and he’s depicted as a friendly, but lively little dog that gets into a lot of mischief. There is now a series of 12 books and a further nine books about his friends, all with catchy rhyming stories and realistic, colourful and fun illustrations. But did you know that Scotland has claimed these books as their own? “WHAT?? How can that be?” we hear you cry!
The pics are very cute and reading the rhymes aloud made me smile. Finley (my kiddo) is still too young to really appreciate it, but we've made the bedtime story a sacrosanct part of our routine since he was born, so at the moment it's more about which books we like more. This series provides an introduction to the study of the United Kingdom for young children as the illustrated ‘Fact Cat’ character leads the reader on a trail through the book, helping them to discover answers to key questions.” (Catalogue) When your child is consistently able to recognise the rhyming words in the story you can then encourage him or her to come up with their own words. You can say “Can you think of another word that rhymes with Potts and spots?”. The Encyclopedia of Surnames is not just another dictionary! With entertaining coverage of more than 7,000 surnames listed alphabetically, it provides a complete and accessible companion to tracing the history of names.” (Catalogue, abridged) Schnitzel von Krumm is the star of several of his own adventures as well as appearing in Hairy Maclary's. A red standard smooth-haired Dachshund, Schnitzel's legs are the shortest in the gang.
If people are all just as emotional, or frightened in a situation, then what might cause them to respond differently to it? Draw a map to show the Hairy Maclary route. Label the map to show your understanding of the words -down, past, end, straight, out.
Children will love looking at the detailed illustrations of each dog, and it's a great conversation starter around different words to describe how each dog looks and might feel" - The Evening Standard Yalde, Phillipa (10 April 2013). "Hairy Maclary debuts in China". SunLive . Retrieved 16 September 2019. Hairy Maclary books are designed to be read by an adult to a child. The plots are simple, keeping with the comprehension-level of the age group for which they are written. They generally involve Hairy and his friends in adventurous scenarios pitched against local cats. The animals in this series, unlike the creatures of Beatrix Potter's stories, are not given human thoughts and motives, their actions tell the stories, and reflect their animal natures. The other thing about reading these books many many times is the mind starts to get a bit 'beautiful' about it. I've started to make inferences about the owners of each pup involved in this story based on the dog and the brief snippet of front gate we get for each introduction. Worse I've started asking more questions, why are there so few people in this town? Why is Ms Plum always the hero, is she the local busybody, or town hero, maybe she's the only non-pet owner in town?The funny thing about reviewing toddler books is that you could easily use more words in the review than there are in the book itself! I think this poem invites musical accompaniment, it could be performed by dividing the class into groups of children responsible for being 'Bottomley Potts' or 'Bitzer Maloney' etc. Add to the description of your favourite character. How could you describe Schnitzel von Krumm with a very low tum?
Great Deal 
New Comment