D.C. Rush

A wonderful story for children.

This is an enchanting story about three dogs who live in Sun City a retirement community. Sammy is a Dalmatian, who is a Fire Department retired Lead Fire Dog, Mason is a great big Rottweiler who’s really a big softie, and then there’s Jewel a beautiful Golden Retriever who when she’s not playing dutifully protects her family’s house.

The dogs are great friends and meet up regularly, so when Mason doesn’t arrive one day, the others go round to his house to see where he is.

But he’s not there! Eventually, he arrives, panting and very tired. He tells his friends he has been through a terrible ordeal, he has been dognapped, but he managed to escape. After Mason reveals that in the big barn he was taken to there were other dogs in cages, Sammy and Jewel leave him to recover and set out see if they can discover where he was held.

When they find the place they report back to Mason and together the three friends hatch a clever plan. However, for it to succeed they need some help from Sammy’s son, Siren, the new Lead Fire Dog, and one of Sammy’s oldest and dearest friend a calico cat called Peaches.

Will their plan succeed?

Will the terrible dognappers be caught?

To discover the plan and find out what happens, you will have to read the book.

Many children love animals and for me an added bonus to the books by this author is the way the characters of the animals and birds involved shine through. The distinctive personalities of the different dog breeds are so good in this book, as are the bird types in the Robby’s Quest series, and the cats in Hershey Learns a Lesson.

Yet again D. C. Rush has written a wonderful, gentle story for children which teaches them the difference between right and wrong in an easily understood way, and it is beautifully illustrated by the very talented Daniela Frongia.… (mais)

Hershey is a big, handsome cat, but unfortunately, his beauty is only skin-deep. Inside he is a bully, he loves nothing more than to frighten other animals, and this includes Nomi, an older but very pretty tan coloured cat who lives in the same house.

If you are fans of the Robby’s Quest series of children’s books, you will already have met Hershey, as the villain, a couple of times before, when he terrorises the birds. In this books he’s still up to no good, he even steals poor Nomi’s food, but what can she do, after all, he’s much bigger than her.

It seems as if there is no way to stop Hershey’s reign of terror. However, one-day, Nomi’s friend Tyson comes to play with her. Horrible Hershey spies them, and when he creeps up and scares Tyson, the events which follow, turn the tables on Hershey and change his life forever.

Suddenly, Hershey is scared and needs help. For the first time, he’s no longer in a position to be bully. However, luckily there are nice kind cats, and when Nomi and Tyson discover his problem, they help him and teach him a valuable lesson at the same time.

The author has combined a wonderful story with a clear message, a great book which is beautifully illustrated by Daniela Fongia.… (mais)

A beautiful children's story.

In this fourth book, we join Robby the Robin and his ever growing flock of mixed species birds as they decide to travel again, this time their adventures are to take them down the coast and they are joined by their seafaring friends Wanda the Whale and her friend Wilma.

During their adventures, they have fun visiting lots of new places and meeting new friends, soon discovering that the tales of their previous escapades have spread far and wide.

However, at a resting place in a Redwood forest disaster strikes the flock in the shape of another bird - an evil Hawk.

In this book, as in the others of this series, children through an engaging story which is really beautifully illustrated, learn about important qualities, such as obeying their parents, consideration for others, loyalty, friendship and trust.

I think that an added bonus is that, whilst sitting watching the birds feed with the children I found myself showing them the different bird species, and we had great fun comparing them to the Robby’s Quest characters.… (mais)

This short story consisted of a group of birds migrating for the winter.
Unable to settle in their location of choice, because of circumstances,
they had to quickly find a new place to settle. With food supply scarce
and other detriments facing them, Robbie feared for the worse. He was
responsible for their safety. He must not fail!

There were good points on being responsible, trustworthy, persevering,
and optimistic. It also emphasized unity, safety in numbers, and the
importance of taking care of our environment. This has adventure mixed
with teaching moments. It would have been nice to have events built up
more for mid-elementary since it is written as a chapter book.
The illustrations it has are colorful and fun.… (mais)