Our #Booky100Keeper books for Day 10 hark right back to the very beginning of the blog, in fact it was a review of "No Roses for Harry" that was our very first review published, back on August 12th 2010.

Ten years later, the "Harry" books are still read and loved, in particular "Harry by the Sea" and "Harry the Dirty Dog" which are easily our two favourites in this series. I have a vague childhood memory of these books (they're coming up for their 60th birthday fairly soon) and I'm sure I remember more titles, but these are the only ones remaining in print or easy to get hold of so let's have a closer look at them all, as they really are fantastic and have stood the test of time.

In "Harry by the Sea", Harry and his family go to the beach on one of the hottest days of the year. Poor Harry finds it difficult to find shade under the family's tiny beach brolly, so tries a number of ways to keep cool (slightly politically incorrect ways in one case, but remember this is a book from the 60s, things were a little different back then!)
 Harry soon ends up in the sea, covered in seaweed and mistaken for a nasty sea monster by a couple of twerpy beach patrol staff, but manages to have a fine adventure in between, before being reunited with his family. A great romp this one, filled with awesome poochy behaviour and funny little comical details thanks to Margaret Bloy Graham's quite child-like but brilliant art.

In "Harry the Dirty Dog" Harry behaves a lot like C - ie avoiding baths at all costs. In fact he takes the family scrubbing brush, buries it in the garden and then runs away. Of course being a dog Harry chooses a unique form of revenge for this hideous bath threatening behaviour - he gets as dirty as possible, so dirty in fact that he becomes a black dog with white spots - completely unrecognisable to his family when he crawls back with his tail between his legs as hunger gets the better of him. Will the family realise it's Harry after all?

"No Roses for Harry" is fab for those of you who (like us) have been knitted something by a relative for a birthday or christmas present. Something you really
don\t ever want to be seen dead in public in. Harry's "Grandma" knits him a "lovely" sweater, lime green and covered in yellow roses. Despite his best efforts, Harry can't rid himself of the dratted thing, and no matter how much he tries to leave it behind or lose it, some helpful soul always brings it back.

Thankfully in the end a bird picks at a loose thread and, encouraged by Harry, pulls the whole thing apart and flies off with it. Harry is delighted, but Grandma is very sad!

Harry realises the error of his ways and takes the family on a jumper hunt that ends with quite a delightful surprise.

Fab fun this one!

Finally there's a book that actually did the whole 'middle grade bridging book' years before modern formats claimed to have invented it.
In "Harry and the Lady Next Door" Harry's adventures are still highly illustrated, but the book's format will be instantly recognisable to modern kidlit fans as one of those fantastic early titles with a hefty word count but still plenty of pictures to drive the story along.

This time Harry's poor ears are being assaulted by a new neighbour who fancies herself as an opera singer. To Harry her sweet singing is like fingernails down a blackboard, so he uses all his canine intelligence to subvert her wailing practice sessions, even enlisting the help of a herd of cows, a brass marching band and a load of frogs.

Harry actually wins out in the end, despite the lady's continued noisemaking, and she wins a singing contest that sees her cruising off into the distance to become a famous singer abroad. I love the neat solution in this one.

These books may or may not still be in print but they're well worth tracking down - they're still brilliant reads even though some of the strange things that crop up in the illustrations may be completely 'of the era' these books were written in.

Original Review Links: 

No Roses for Harry

Harry by the sea

Harry the Dirty Dog

Harry and the Lady Next Door - N/A

On this very day 6 years ago we started ReadItDaddy. Or to be more accurate, my wife came up with this crazy idea of me starting a book blog to try and build up a list of the many, many books we hauled home from the library every week.

Abingdon Library - as we've mentioned many times on the blog - is still our go-to place for awesome and astounding books, and we're so very lucky that the library is still well stocked and funded enough to keep going when so many others have had their funding slashed, and have been forced to close.

We definitely do not take the place for granted and if there's one message we've come across many many times on our blog voyage, it's that libraries need your help and your support so PLEASE use this fantastic resource if you've got it, and if you can.

Our first review was for a book that has since been read and re-read so many times that we almost know it off by heart. Coming from that magical era of US children's publishing that spawned so many classic children's books, and also built the strong foundations and templates for children's books to follow for decades and generations to come, Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham's sublime "No Roses for Harry" tells the simple tale of a black and white dog who gets the most terrible lime green and yellow-rose decorated sweater from his doting Grandma. Harry, being a mischievous pup, tries all sorts of ways to accidentally 'lose' that terrible sweater but in the end a bird comes to his aid. Has Harry really seen the last of that dreadful thing?

So THAT'S where it got to!

One of the reasons I made a bee-line for this book for Charlotte's library pile was because I had such strong memories of the "Harry" books as a kid. There were several in my school library (and sadly although there are only four still in print, there were quite a few more if I recall correctly so if any publishers fancy reprinting the rest, you'd win a fan for life!)

Charlotte was 2 at the time we started the blog but both my wife and I had been reading books to her from birth. By the time "Harry" came around she was an inquisitive, curious little book-lover and delighted in this tale of a naughty little dog and his antics. We borrowed the other Harry books from the library and eventually bought our own copies because we ended up adding them to our library loans pile so frequently it seemed rude not to actually buy the durned things! So "Harry the Dirty Dog", "Harry by the Sea" (Charlotte's absolute favourite by a mile), and "Harry and the Lady Next Door" are now in our collection.

On our 6th anniversary of writing the blog, so much has changed in all our reading tastes. Picture books are still loved but we find ourselves increasingly working through piles of awesome middle grade and chapter books, and of course covering as many non-fiction titles as we can lay our hands on.

We never expected to be sent books to review. We still find that hugely satisfying and we also love the fact that even though we don't cover self-published titles, authors of those titles still regularly try their luck and value our opinion enough to drop us a line. Sometimes it's just nice to hear from folk who are doing something different, writing new and original stories that they're trying to get 'out there'.

There have been so many happy memories of people we've met through the blog, including fabulous authors and illustrators who we're still humbly a bit embarrassed to introduce ourselves to (and it's still such a giggle when they know us, and the blog AND like what we do!) We'd get out there more, but holding down a full time job and Charlotte being at school during the week really does mean we only get out on special occasions when the timing is perfect  - Always fantastic to get to do that from time to time.

Without a doubt it's been such a huge benefit to Charlotte's reading, writing and English skills, such a huge boost to her curiosity and imagination from reading all those books and writing about them between the two of us (and I should point out that my wife is definitely the unsung hero of this blog, who puts in just as much effort as I do when it comes to sourcing and reading the most amazing stories, or catching up with the most brilliant non-fiction titles we can find).

As we move more towards chapter books, non fiction books, comics and material for older readers we still can't 'quit' picture books and we're still delighted and dazzled every week when we see what's new, what's coming, and just how hard publishers, PRs, authors, artists, designers and everyone else in the children's publishing industry work to bring us such amazing titles week after week, month after month and year after year.

Finally the last words should come from Charlotte. I asked her recently what she thought about the prospect of "Read It Daddy" one day closing its doors, publishing our last article and she was adamant that she would NOT let that happen, no way no day!

She also regularly talks about one day being "Read it, Charlotte" and taking over entirely. Her typing skills are coming along and though most of the time she's far too busy to write up our articles, she's still the beating heart of what we do here and always will be.

So you're stuck with us for the time being.

So Happy 6th Blog Birthday to us and a solidly heartfelt and huge thank you to all the amazing people who've helped us carry on with the blog and thank you so much to all the folk who regularly drop by to read what we have to say.

We finally made it to the Library, YAY! When we spotted this in the library stacks (I'm still surprised we don't actually own a copy, something I need to rectify as soon as possible!) I thought it'd be a great opportunity to revisit the first book we ever reviewed on this blog. Back when Charlotte was a very busy little toddler and I first had the idea of doing a book blog with her, this was the book we chose to review first.

If you're unfamiliar with the Harry books, they're oldies but goodies - first published in the late 1950s but still as funny and brilliant (if a little dated looking) as they were back then.

In this adventure, Harry the white dog with black spots is given a new sweater for his birthday by Grandma. Only...well, you know what grandmas are like. It's not exactly 'en vogue' - It's green with huge yellow roses all over it.

Harry hates the sweater on sight, and though it's cosy and snug, all the other dogs and children laugh at Harry as he walks past.

Harry is determined to 'accidentally' lose the sweater, and we follow his various efforts to do so in a huge department store.

Trying and failing, it takes the timely intervention of a cheeky bird to finally rid Harry of the pesky birthday gift. But with Granny visiting soon, has Harry done the right thing?

Charlotte's reaction to this was much the same as it was originally. Though we've enjoyed it many times since, it's probably been a few years since we last dipped into it so it was a joy to find that she still loves Harry just as much as she always did (in fact we do still read the three Harry books we DO have at home - Harry the Dirty Dog, Harry and the Lady Next Door and Harry by the Sea very regularly). It's a real shame that the original huge range of Harry books has been pared down to just these four and the others (like "Harry and the Baby") have never been reprinted. Children today would love Harry's antics, the bold artwork and the amusing situations he finds himself in. In a market packed to the gills with doggy books, Harry still reigns supreme.

Charlotte's best bit: The fabulous birds nest at the end of the book.

Daddy's favourite bit: Great jazzy illustrations, and tons of amusement at Harry's various failed attempts to lose that pesky sweater.

Amazon Link: £3.98

Published by Red Fox Picture Books


I offer no apologies for featuring / reviewing ANOTHER Harry book. Charlotte is absolutely in love with this mischievous little black spotted dog so we managed to grab another Harry book from the library. This time round, Harry goes to the seaside with his family and ends up being mistaken for a sea monster. 

Margaret Bloy Graham's cool 60s kitsch artwork is as fantastic as ever, and though the books can be a bit formulaic there's always plenty going on in each page and frame and Harry is the coolest dog in kid's books, bar none. 

Charlotte's best bit: Harry getting covered in seaweed and crawling out of the sea like a monster. 

Daddy's favourite bit: Harry trying to find a spot of shade by following a fat lady along the beach. 

No Roses for Harry by Gene Zion.
Illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham.

Amazon Link: £4.05p



One of the greatest pleasures of reading to your children is when you discover that a book you loved as a kid is still in print, and still entertains as much as it did when you were young. "No Roses for Harry" was published in the 60s but the "Harry" series, featuring a mischievous dog and his exploits, are still readily available.

This book is superb and anyone who's received a dodgy hand-knitted sweater from an elderly relative for Christmas or a birthday can identify with Harry's plight. The text is entertaining and though Margaret Bloy Graham's illustrations are very much "of the era" (60s cartoon art), they're superb and there's plenty for youngsters to point out and look at.

Charlotte's best bit: The bird's nest at the end of the book.

Daddy's favourite bit: The expressions on Harry's face when he realises that yet another helpful soul has returned the sweater he's been trying to lose all over town.


Rating: 4 out of 5