Judith M. Berrisford

Skipper is a sweet family orientated book published in 1955. The story is first of a girl named ‘Kitty’ trying to solve the mystery of a white dog she sees at night. She is joined by her older sister Jane and younger brother Roddy. Of course, if you need to chase after a dog, you should do it the way all of us would; by mounting up on your horse or pony and go follow it’s footprints.

Part of the charm is that they live on a farm with most farm animals you can think of. Wish we all had show more nice terrain to navigate through right out your back door. Here is a description of the chase that talks about what is near their home:

‘The tracks led along the stream, down the meadow, past the fir copse until the two children came in sight of the sea. Kitty pulled up. The paw-prints had stopped at the beach.
She glanced to the cliffs at each side of the sandy bay, past the farthest point of the headlands toward Bird Island. She dismounted and went forward, leading Dapple to the smugglers’ path, the track which zig-zagged down the cliff to the cover. Although the incoming tide had obviously washed away some paw-prints, Kitty could still see some plainly marked in the sand which the waves had not yet reached.’

They eventually track down the dog and then must gain the dog’s trust. At times the dog growls at them, and I think they are brave because if a Alsatian (German Shepherd Dog) growled at me, I would be a bit nervous. Later there is a question of returning the dog to the owner, but I like the wholesome attitude expressed:

‘And of course,’ Jane declared, ‘it’s the duty of everyone who finds a lost dog to do everything to restore it to the owner.’

I like the way the kids are independent and trusted but still bring in their dad on excursions. Not sure how much parents would let their kids go off in a boat or away in other ways nowadays as they do in the book, but I especially think kids reading the book would like to hear of the independence.

I like the way old books can have words that are no longer used much now. There wasn’t a whole lot in the book, but did find a few interesting word choices in this part:

‘It’s for your own good, Kit,’ Jane said with an expression of sorely tried patience. ‘We don’t want to be stuffy, but you are being fanciful, you know’
‘Rot!’ retorted Kitty.

Overall, I thought it was a very good book. Great reading for a family but I think all can enjoy it. show less

Skipper is a sweet family orientated book published in 1955. The story is first of a girl named ‘Kitty’ trying to solve the mystery of a white dog she sees at night. She is joined by her older sister Jane and younger brother Roddy. Of course, if you need to chase after a dog, you should do it the way all of us would; by mounting up on your horse or pony and go follow it’s footprints.

Part of the charm is that they live on a farm with most farm animals you can think of. Wish we all had show more nice terrain to navigate through right out your back door. Here is a description of the chase that talks about what is near their home:

‘The tracks led along the stream, down the meadow, past the fir copse until the two children came in sight of the sea. Kitty pulled up. The paw-prints had stopped at the beach.
She glanced to the cliffs at each side of the sandy bay, past the farthest point of the headlands toward Bird Island. She dismounted and went forward, leading Dapple to the smugglers’ path, the track which zig-zagged down the cliff to the cover. Although the incoming tide had obviously washed away some paw-prints, Kitty could still see some plainly marked in the sand which the waves had not yet reached.’

They eventually track down the dog and then must gain the dog’s trust. At times the dog growls at them, and I think they are brave because if a Alsatian (German Shepherd Dog) growled at me, I would be a bit nervous. Later there is a question of returning the dog to the owner, but I like the wholesome attitude expressed:

‘And of course,’ Jane declared, ‘it’s the duty of everyone who finds a lost dog to do everything to restore it to the owner.’

I like the way the kids are independent and trusted but still bring in their dad on excursions. Not sure how much parents would let their kids go off in a boat or away in other ways nowadays as they do in the book, but I especially think kids reading the book would like to hear of the independence.

I like the way old books can have words that are no longer used much now. There wasn’t a whole lot in the book, but did find a few interesting word choices in this part:

‘It’s for your own good, Kit,’ Jane said with an expression of sorely tried patience. ‘We don’t want to be stuffy, but you are being fanciful, you know’
‘Rot!’ retorted Kitty.

Overall, I thought it was a very good book. Great reading for a family but I think all can enjoy it. show less

Acquired via BookCrossing 27 Jun 2009 - from the Mozfest stall

I do like a pony book so grabbed this one at Mozfest. I can't remember what the other Jackie books I've read were like, but this one, set on holiday where Jackie and her cousins meet three boys who are most unfriendly, was very "busy" indeed. Hardly a page goes by without incident or accident for a pony, dog or rider and this made it feel a bit hectic. Nice illustrations by Geoffrey Whittam set it firmly in the late 60s/early 70s. show more A quick read! show less

This book, first published in 1937, was only ok. It is about a sheepdog as told in the title of the book. The book starts out with him as a young dog, who gets into some trouble, mostly by running away, but learns his lesson from the experience. Then he learns his work, altogether too easily. In the course of the book he helps out with all the chores responsible for tending sheep including sheering and dipping. Then of course in the end he is put into a trial where the ending is what you show more expect. So nothing unexpected and everything comes easily to Taff, so easily a book you can skip. There is more interest and excitement in a single story in one of Albert Payson Terhune's book. show less