My perfect pup by Sue Walker

Ill. by Anil Tortop. New Frontier Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925059601
(Age: 4+) Dogs. Pets. Choice. Responsibility. A tiny dog sits patiently in the pet shop waiting for someone to choose him. Two children arrive on their tandem, wanting a dog. Milly wants a dog to brush and preen and primp, and Max wants a dog that will learn tricks. They take home the little dog and call it Tiny, but Tiny resists the things the children want him to do, and he grows to be anything but tiny. So one day they return him to the shop! Tiny now waits for the perfect owner. And sure enough the perfect owner appears, loving Tiny for what he is.
This story shows readers that one size does not fit all, a dog that the children thought would be just what they wanted, turned out to be far from their dreams. The book teaches the reader that there is more to appearance when it comes to choosing an animal or friend. They will see from the story that there is a particular animal that will suit them, and they must choose wisely.
The illustrations add a level of humour to the story, showing Tiny as he goes from being a quiet, attentive little dog in the shop, to growing to be a big fluffy dog at home and readers will laugh out loud at his change, as they will when looking at the array of people who come into the shop looking for a dog to buy.
This is perhaps a gentle reminder that there is more to buying an animal than meets the eye and could be taken further in talking about choices we make in life.
Fran Knight