Willa and Woof: Grandparents for hire by Jacqueline Harvey

Grandparents for hire is the third book in a series for middle primary readers about a very enterprising 8-year-old girl called Willa and her large, albino wolf hound, Woof. The series started with Mimi is missing, followed by Birthday business in 2022. In this story Willa is concerned about the many children who are upset when their school principal announces that they are having a Grandparents Day.  Many of them do not have grandparents nearby and Willa decides to help.  She comes up with a plan to match some of the residents of the nearby retirement village to the children in need of grandparents for the day. Her scheme will also help the retirement village residents by providing an income to support their outings and afternoon teas, something the nasty director Mrs Wilson wants to get rid of.  During her organisation of Grandparents for hire her four-legged friend Woof seems to be up to something and keeps mysteriously disappearing, especially when her teacher’s dog Lola is nearby. These easy to read, adventurous stories, from the author of the Alice Miranda and Kensy and Max books, are perfect for those readers ready to tackle slightly longer novels. The characters will appeal to most children and will be positive role models for this age group.

Themes: Grandparents, Dogs, Friendship.

Gabrielle Anderson