Maggie Mayhem is the very talented pooch behind a fantastic new children's book (sorry, I mean "self help book for dogs") that aims to guide our canine pals through the tricky business of selecting the right humans to live with.
Maggie (with help from Kim Sears and the awesome illustration talents of Helen Hancocks who we LOVE LOVE LOVE!) brings tons of experience to the (dinner) table and details the various quirks that humans possess, kicking off with a few very important doggie facts.
1) Humans shake hands rather than greeting each other by sniffing each other's bottoms. Weirdos!
2) Licking is considered 'dirty' so humans tend to use soap and water (ugh) rather than licking themselves clean, and will dash to the bathroom if you lick their face to re-wash it! Bizarre!
3) Some humans are obsessed with dressing dogs up. These humans are probably best avoided unless you're A) a budding fashionista and B) don't actually mind being clad in a lime green tutu and little devil horns for photo opportunities.
We absolutely adored the humour in this book, as Maggie breaks the tricky subject of homo erectus down into a series of categories (just like you'd expect to see in a "How to look after your Dog" book, amusingly!)
Helen's illustrations are fabulous. We never ever EVER get tired of her inventive characters, knowing little nods (there are cats in this book, just to warn you - well Helen, like us, is a cat person so hooray for that). I swear that she's been sneaking a look at the blog because the fellah on the section about hair and grooming looks oddly familiar (though it could just be any token potato-headed baldie I guess!)
We giggled all the way through. It's a big meaty satisfying butcher's bone of a book that's going to delight canines (and their pet humans) the world over.
Charlotte's best bit: Maggie's advice on how to deal with any human wearing shorts!
Daddy's favourite bit: Well groomed, perfectly poised, a sure-fire Crufts winner of a book that dogs and dog fans are going to love to pieces (hopefully not literally, as some dogs do love chewing a good book!)
(Kindly sent to us for review by Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
"How to Look After your Human"
Written by Maggie Mayhem and Kim Sears
Illustrated by Helen Hancocks
Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date: 2nd June 2016