Book Trailer: Priceless Penny

Sniffer & Tinni: A True Tale of Amazing Animal Friendship Book Review

Prepare to be taken on an amazing journey of friendship in Sniffer & Tinni: A True Tale of Amazing Animal Friendship by Berit Helberg.  Torgeir Berge and his German shepard, Tinni, loved to go for walks by the forest.  During one such walk, something emerged from the bushes.

A startled Tinni soon discovered that it was a baby fox!  The fearless fox thought that Tinni would make the perfect playmate...and quickly pounced on her.  After having his fun, Tinni and Torgeir headed for home.

A few days later, Tinni and Torgeir went back to the spot where they had met the baby fox.  Sure enough, the fox popped out of the forest ready to play with his new friends.  Torgeir was concerned about the fox and knew that the babe should not be without his mother.  Torgeir decided to leave food for the fox to make sure that he would not starve.

Tinni and Torgeir began to visit the fox every day.  Torgeir even gave the fox a name:  Sniffer.  Sniffer and Tinni's friendship continued to grow, but would their obvious differences come between this dynamic duo?

This is officially my new favorite children's picture book!  The photographs by Torgeir Berge are absolutely stunning!  The reader can actually see the friendship between Tinni and Sniffer unfolding.  I am always drawn to true stories, which makes this book even more fantastic for me.

I was greatly reminded of the Walt Disney classic  The Fox and the Hound.  The relationship between Tinni and Sniffer is truly reminiscent of the bond between Copper and Todd.  I am very glad that Torgeir encouraged this unique friendship and was able to capture it on film.

I would highly recommend this book to readers, animal lovers and photographers of all ages.  Readers will easily become swept away by the amazing adventures of Tinni and Sniffer.  This story is sure to become a new children's classic.

Bob the Dog Book Review

In Bob the Dog by Rodrigo Folgueira, a little boy named Mark takes his dog Bob out for a romp in the park. They are having such a wonderful time! The pair are laughing and running without a care...until a tiny canary flies into Bob's mouth.

Bob is beside himself with guilt. He cannot believe that he has just eaten a bird! Mark soon discovers that the canary (named Jeremy) is alive and well...and hiding from something.

Mark enlists the help of his woodland friends Roger the Rabbit, Cathy the Cat and Oscar the Owl. Surly, they can come up with a way to get Jeremy out of Bob's stomach. But what if they can't? Will Jeremy be forced to live in Bob's tummy forever?

I absolutely love Poly Bernatene's illustrations! They are both whimsical and adorable. I especially love all of Bob's facial expressions. I also love how Bernatene uses mixed media throughout the book, such as hiding pages from other books within the illustrations. Adding a pawtographed photo of Lassie to Bob's dog house was a very cute (and hilarious) touch.

While I greatly enjoyed the ending, I felt that the resolution to the story came a bit too quickly. I feel that the story could have been flushed out for a least four more pages. Overall, this is a fun read for the emergent reader.