Evie and Pog: Puppy playtime! by Tania McCartney

HarperCollins, 2020. ISBN: 9781460757949. 144pp.
(Age: 6+) Here is a delightful, happy, fun-filled collection of 3 stories compiled into a paperback novel for beginner readers aged 6 and up.
Tania Mc Cartney has not only written but she has illustrated these stories with zany, zappy pictures that scatter unpredictably all over the pages, all around and in and out of the text in as uninhibited a way as Granny's knitting wool. The internal layout, design and typesetting is also done by the author.
Evie is a little girl. Pog is a dog. They are friends. Granny lives close and Noah is a friend who seems to pop up in each story. All these characters develop through their antics and they are loveable. Granny is a very young and unconventional granny with her own funny foibles. Pog is staid and Evie is full of life. They are the perfect foil for each other.
The books are full of continuous action and the dialogue is quite enchanting.
The little characters and some of the text reappear in each story to provide continuity and repetition of vocabulary securing pleasure and confidence for beginner readers. In the 3 stories in Evie and Pog: Puppy playtime!, the characters undergo a playhouse renovation, invent a classroom contraption and design a puppy park. For the young STEM enthusiast there are plenty of maps, plans and designs.
This is a smart book for kids which is sure to inspire them to read. I will be introducing our children to Evie and Pog and adding the other happy adventure books in the series to our collection.
Wendy Jeffrey