Chook Doolan: The Newest Pet
It's Pet Day at school but Joe doesn't have a pet. Can Chook come up with a plan to help his friend?
Chook's friend Joe doesn't have a pet to bring to Pet Day. To cheer him up, Chook decides they should try to find him a pet for just a day. But Joe is so sad he can't even come up with a plan. (And that's his best thing.) Can Chook think of a plan to help his friend? And will he be brave enough to carry it out?
Creators
James Roy was born in Trundle, western NSW. When he was ten months old his parents accepted a missionary appointment to the highlands of Papua New Guinea. A placement in Fiji followed some years later and, by the age of 16, James had spent more than half of his life living in the islands of the South Pacific. He attributes much of his early interest in books to the absence of TV, a wonderful library full of adventure books, and the opportunity to play as those characters in wild, adventuresome places. James lives in the Blue Mountains with his family and writes both fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults. His books have won many awards and he travels throughout Australia talking about books and writing. He is an advocate for boys' literacy.
Lucinda Gifford was brought up in Scotland and originally intended to become an architect, studying Architecture at Edinburgh and Bath Universities. Lucinda’s love of drawing buildings was cancelled out at the time by an overwhelming disinterest in construction sites and the newly-introduced CAD technology, and so she went on to spend a very enjoyable fifteen years in Auckland, London and Melbourne working in advertising and design. These days, Lucinda lives with her family in Melbourne’s northern suburbs – and works as an illustrator, author-illustrator and graphic designer from her cosy, messy home studio. Lucinda uses pencil, ink, crayon, marker, and watercolour to produce her illustrations, and usually uses PhotoShop to put everything together. When not sketching, designing or developing story ideas, Lucinda enjoys plot twists, beach walks and staring out the windows of Melbourne trams.
Reviews
I like Chook because he wants to help his friend. It would be horrible to not have any pets and even worse to feel left out. The best part of this book was when all the pets were at school for the day. The classroom was like a noisy, smelly zoo. That would be lots of fun.
Creative Kids Tales
This sweet series focuses on friends, family, community and being brave, and is great for developing emotional intelligence.
Little Friends magazine
All books are perfectly pitched for boys who are graduating to chapter books. The text is large, the sentences and chapters are short, and the vocabulary is simple. Most double-spread pages feature an amusing illustration by Lucinda Gifford.
Bookrapt
These are simple but pleasant stories for newly independent readers of 5-7 years.
Janet Croft Reviews
Big, clear print, short chapters and an engaging plot is sure to make this series a winner for children who are just beginning to become independent readers.
Read Plus
Themes of confidence, being brave, family and community are blended together to create a lively story for early readers.
Buzzwords
Early readers – 5-8 year olds- will easily empathise with Chook and enjoy the funny twists and turns in Roy’s clever plots.
Reading Time
An excellent series for newly-independent readers.
Magpies Magazine
