Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy - Lynley Dodd

I bought a collection of these lovely little books for during my early years and infants placements. They went down a treat! This is the first book in the series. Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy is a little black Skye Terrier. He sounds Scottish and he looks Scottish and his breed is Scottish... but he was written by a woman from New Zealand. I was really surprised by this for some reason! So, as I said, Hairy Maclary is a little black terrier who lives at Donaldson's Dairy. I think we can all see where the rhyming is going here can't we children? Yeeeeesssss. The Characters -------------------- This is the ...  Read the complete review

Of all the games we play in the car to pass the time singing and reciting songs and poems is the best. It makes us laugh. We're particularly big on There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly because Conor likes the wriggling, tickling spider and Green Grow The Rushes O because Kieran gets to shout "ho ho" very loudly and also because my father always sings it, and sings it badly, when he's been sampling liqueurs. Also, we like to make up limericks to trade mock insults with each other, but those repetitive counting songs and rhymes where we all try to sing or recite faster and faster and dissolve in silly giggles at the first person to get it all ...  Read the complete review

This baby/toddler book is basically a poem set to illustrations. It tells the rather odd tale of a dog (the eponymous hero from the title) who goes for a walk. Along the way, different dogs meet up and join him, until they meet a cat which scares them all away. And that's it! The book is primarily about rhyme, and there is a repetitive nature to it which will help little ones develop their vocabulary. Like many kiddie's books, there's a stupidity to the story (nothing really happens), but I don't buy into it with glee like many others; being a very short book, there's little to attract you. The illustrations, for example, are nothing great: colour ...  Read the complete review

On our weekly visit to the library this week, Noah picked up this book. I vaguely remembered it from my childhood so was eager to get it home and read it to him. The book is written by Lynley Dodd and I'm guessing it's illustrated by her too as there is no other name on the front of the book. The one we have is a paperback and is quite small is size. It costs £4.99 if you buy it new but I'm pretty sure you could find it in a charity shop or on Ebay for much cheaper than that. The story is about a little, scruffy dog called Hairy Maclary who goes for a walk. As he goes on his little journey a different dog joins him on each page. As the dogs are at ...  Read the complete review

This is a fabulous children's book, written and illustrated by Lynley Dodd...........who until this review I assumed was a man for some reason, wasn't sure of the gender of the name! Anyway that aside Lynley has written a wide range of brilliant books in the Hairy Maclary series, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy being the first! It's very hard to believe that this book was first published back in 1983, but it has stood the test of time and still enjoyed by young children of today! - Who is Hairy Maclary? - HM is a dog...........Dodd's illustrations of him make him look very lovable and cuddly. He's a black / grey very long ...  Read the complete review