Clouds's Reviews > Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my BEDTIME STORIES list.

I have a little boy and love reading to him, so this reading list will cover the classic (and new) children’s stories we’re enjoying together.

It was my son's first birthday last week and the boy got so many presents we're struggling to find space for them in our little house!

Amongst the loot we hauled home was half a dozen books - and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's dairy is my pick of the lot.

The funny thing about reviewing toddler books is that you could easily use more words in the review than there are in the book itself!

It's a lovely little poem about a dog (Hairy Maclary) who takes himself for a walk and gets joined, one at a time, by his pack. Each dog has it's own rhyming couplet (eg, Hairy Maclary, from Donaldson's Dairy - Hercules Morse, as big as a horse) and as each extra dog joins we start the cumulative list again from the top, in the same way as There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly .

The pics are very cute and reading the rhymes aloud made me smile. Finley (my kiddo) is still too young to really appreciate it, but we've made the bedtime story a sacrosanct part of our routine since he was born, so at the moment it's more about which books we like more.

My wife and I both like dogs - which probably helps us enjoy this one! We don't have a dog at the moment (we have three cats) but we're currently planning to get a puppy for Fin's 5th birthday. If anyone's interested, we're hoping to get a Toller retriever.

They're cute, huh?

After this I read: When the World Is Ready for Bed