AND THEY CALL IT PUPPY LOVE (The Worry Website - Jacqueline Wilson)

Member Name: stuleg

Product:	The Worry Website - Jacqueline Wilson
Date:	08/03/06 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful story and Characters

Disadvantages: Too short

“Micky was very glad when it was time to get up. His bedroom didn’t seem anywhere near as frightening in the sunlight…….No werewolves. Not even a tuft of fur or fang.”

By his own admission Micky was a wimp, out of him and his four Sisters it seemed that he was the biggest girlie of them all, and this didn’t go unnoticed by his Dad. He would often moan that Micky needed to stand on his own two feet and toughen up a bit which unfortunately just made Micky snivel and blub all the more and seem an even bigger wimp. So when His Mum and Dad went out for the night and his Sisters insisted on watching the latest Werewolf video “Savage Snarl” Micky thought it would be the ideal opportunity to stop behaving like a wimp so he settled down as well to enjoy the film. Sadly Micky did not enjoy the film one bit; the parts he did see when he was not holding his hands over his face left him scared and traumatised, far from toughening him up the film left him an even bigger nervous wreck than before. And when his Sisters insisted on playing cruel tricks on him by draping themselves with the furry hearth-rug and jumping out on him Micky was close to becoming a complete nervous wreck, which seemed to anger his Dad still further and please his four sisters no end.

“When Micky went to school that morning he crossed right over the road so he didn’t have to go near Sandy the Alsatian. But even from right across the road Sandy looked much larger and fiercer than usual, and there seemed to be far more teeth springing from his jaw. He really did look remarkably like a werewolf.”

Things got worse and worse for poor Micky; His younger Sister Marigold delighted in telling her school friends about his absolute terror at all things wolf like and so they spent break and dinner times at school chasing him around and making snarling-howling noises. Anything furry immediately transformed into a leaping biting beast, so much so that Micky nearly screamed the house down when his Granny Boot showed him the new fox-fur cape she had bought at the charity shop. Mickey’s Mum had obviously seen enough and so decided that the only way to cure this fear of all things furry was to get Micky his very own dog, however the idea of walking around the dog re-homing centre with all those caged werewolf like beasts trying to get at Micky was just too much for him to bare. Maybe the grey scruffy looking dog would sort out his fear once and for all but just maybe the dog – which he christened Wolfie - would be a ravenous beast all set to rip him into tiny bits at the very first opportunity.

“Micky knew it was the only possible choice. He had the most magical special pet in the whole world. His very own werewolf. Well, not quite a werewolf yet. A werepuppy.”

This is my very first taste of Jacqueline Wilson the author, and I can now see why she is a children’s favourite. The Characters in the Werepuppy are all delightfully described so that we know what scares them or what gives them there kicks. Micky and the trials and tribulations he faces are no doubt typical of a young boy in a house with four Sisters, constantly getting pushed around and mocked by his siblings. And I’m sure most of us have watched a scary movie when we were far too young to be doing so, all the time pretending it wasn’t scaring us while wondering how we could put off going to bed and the related darkness. A slightly deeper story within the story is that of Micky`s dad and his disappointment at the wimp of a son he has, but by standing up for what be believes Micky does eventually earn the respect and love of his Father.

“It seemed a good idea to feed wolfie as soon as possible as he’d already chewed several fingers, tried to eat a rabbit supper, and now, after a sniff at Wilbur rat and a gnaw at Mona, he was severely worrying Marigold’s My Little Ponies.”

I feel that the Werepuppy would suit children over about eight years old, it also has sufficient pace and fun so that adults can enjoy it too. Its 96 pages are broken up with exquisite drawings by Janet Robertson and each chapter of the book is typically ten pages long. Four stars out of five from this big kid.

ISBN: - 0-141-31828-7
96 Pages Softback
Published by Puffin
www.penguin.com

Summary: Has sufficient pace and fun so that adults can enjoy it too