Steven Butler

Cute new book that I'll be adding to our 4th/5th grade school library. It's told from the dog's point of view and is sure to be a hit with my developing readers along with all readers who like a funny story. There wasn't much action the first half of the book, but it got better and the vocabulary is hilarious. Even adults will get a kick out of the "About the Authors" section, which includes "James Pat-My-Head-Erson" ("one of the biggest-selling GOOD BOYS"), "Steven Butt-sniff" ("His Wrong show more Pong series was short-licked for the Roald Dahl funny prize"), and Richard Watson ("a labra-doodler"). At the end, there is a dog dot-to-dot and word search, which won't go over well in a library. I wish publishers would consider things like that, but, oh, well. Still a cute story! show less

If there were more hours in the day, or my life wasn't as busy as it is, I would definitely read and review more books written for readers in the 7-10 age range. Sadly, it is far too easy for me to keep moving these books down the To Be Read pile so that I can read the next great 11 book that has come through my letterbox. However, I have been trying harder, and this year discovered Andy Stanton's brilliant Mr Gum books (yes, months after everyone else had been raving about them), and of show more course Ivan Brett's fantastic Casper Candlewacks. There is something refreshing about reading books for this age group - they are often riotously funny, are littered with intelligent wordplay and harbour cleverly veiled morals within their plots.

The Wrong Pong by Steven Butler is one such story. Like Alice, Neville Brisket falls down a hole and finds himself in a strange land populated by fantastic creatures. Unfortunately for Neville, in his case the hole is the toilet on which he was sitting, and the creature that drags him through the pipes is a troll, a green one called Clod Bulch that "looked like a human had been crossed with a knobbly potato". Meanwhile Clod's troll son Pong is stranded in Neville's house, although with so many fun new distractions he seems more than happy in his new environment.

The same cannot be said for Neville. The trolls of Under are everything you would expect from creatures who enjoy travelling through toilet pipes - Disgusting with a capital D. They eat rat patties fried in hair grease, battered badger lightly sprinkled with verruca shavings, and ear wax brownies. He also has to contend with Rubella - whilst Pong's parents bend over backwards to welcome their guest, his sister is less than impressed at the new arrival in her home and will do anything to get rid of him. Will Neville survive her devious schemes? Will he ever return to his normal life? Will he even want to, considering he gets more attention from the Clod's than he ever did from his own parents? And will his parents ever notice that their son has been replaced by a small green troll called Pong?

Having enjoyed this quick read for myself I tried it on my godson's younger brother and he loved it. In fact, on finishing it he demanded to know if there were any more Pong books available (there is - The Wrong Pong: Holiday Hullabloo, and hopefully more to follow). If you want to create within your son a lifelong love of reading then it is important to give them access to as many books as possible at this age, both fiction and non-fiction. Read the books yourself and then talk to them about their contents. The Wrong Pong is one of those books made for this kind of sharing - it is a story that you will find yourself giggling over with your child, as you both go "ewwwww" at all the disgusting bits. show less

Funny set-up for the Dog Diaries series. Told from a dog's point-0f-view. He has his own vocabulary. He is funny as he talks about leaving the shelter and getting his pet human. I enjoyed his unique view on his actions and the reactions of others. I could picture him doing the things he did. This book made me happy and I look forward to more of Ruff and him.

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to read about a hilarious dog who is always looking for adventure. This is part of the Dog Diaries and is written from the perspective a dog, Junior, who often winds up in trouble while looking for fun adventures but doesn’t really understand exactly what he is doing wrong (like using the restroom in a girl’s shoes). However, he quickly bounces back and is again happy and full of himself. In this book, Big Top Bonanza, a circus comes to town show more and Junior and his dog pack friends are determined to go. Junior spends a lot of time planning and thinking about all the fun things he is going to do when he gets there. However, unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the roller coasters or in the Big Top. Junior and his dog friends unhappily wait outside until one of them decides they should sneak in. They do so and Junior sees an old friend from his days at the animal shelter performing on the stage. This is too much excitement for Junior and he and his friends run to the stage, creating chaos. They, and their owners, were asked to leave but not before Junior and his old pal made plans to meet up. Junior was able to sneak out of his house and meet with his old friend who tells him that she will teach him circus tricks so he can perform with her on the final night. Read the book to find out if Junior gets to perform at the circus and, if he does, will it be a night to remember or a disaster he hopes to forget?
This is a fun book that is written with a young reader’s humor in mind. Junior is a dog who does not lack for confidence, and it makes him do things that are not always the best choice. However, Junior takes everything in stride and keeps trying no matter what, which is a good lesson in resilience. There are illustrations throughout the book that add to the book rather than distract and match the action in the book. It is recommended for ages 8-11 or grades 2-7 but could be read by younger readers because there is no obscene content show less