In my continuing quest to find books that my son will enjoy and also tear him away from his Nintento and football, I discovered Jeremy Strong. Borgette is quite a contrast to Borgeth, and she loves reading her books, of all varying styles and genres, but Borgeth is another matter in deed!

I am not too sure how I discovered Jeremy Strong, but it was probably whilst browsing through the Amazon website or maybe reading a review on a site such as this. Borgeth has now got four books by this author, and today I am reviewing the first we purchased a year or so back...

'The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog' is a great read. It is simple and fun. Trevor's dog Streaker is not like all dogs. To quote the blurb, 'She's a rocket on four legs with a woof...'

Trevor's mum asks him to walk Streaker twice a day through the school holidays and if he does she will give him thirty pounds. The problem is NO ONE can walk Streaker as she always runs off like a shot! But Streaker is not only a very fast dog, she is also very daft and causes havoc wherever she goes! Taking on his mother's offer, he tries various ways of walking Streaker, including using roller skates, to disastrous results and also creating a walking machine, but to no avail.

Trevor and his friend Tina (who everyone thinks is his girlfriend, but he is adamant she is NOT) decide to train Streaker. However, his arch enemy Charlie Smugg (son of a local police man) gets wind of this and makes a bet with him that if they fail to train Trevor's dog, then Trevor and Tina have to sit in an old bath full of disgusting mud and slime that is in a local field.


Most children under ten like to see pictures with the books they read, and on nearly every other page of this book there is a fun picture illustrated by Nick Sharratt, who has also illustrated books by Jacqueline Wilson (Tracy Beaker, most notably) and Julia Donaldson.

Like most of his books, The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog has a simple plot and is very easy to read. Born in 1949 and with two children of his own, Jeremy Strong has a great sense of humour and knows exactly what makes children laugh. I had fun reading it to my seven year old son and he had fun being read to. However, this is just the kind of book for a reluctant reader to begin their life as an actual reader too.


The Hundred Mile and Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong

Published by Puffin Books

£4.99

Puffinbooks.com

Jeremystrong.co.uk