Children’s Book Review: Sparky and Tidbit By Kathryn O Galbraith

SPARKY AND TIDBIT

By: Kathryn O. Galbraith

Illustrated by: Gerald Kelley

Published: February 3, 2015

Publisher: Simon Spotlight

Fiction

Is your child ready to start reading chapter books? These Ready-to-Read books are the perfect starting point. Four different levels are offered to get your child used to more words and longer stories from Pre-Level One all the way to Level Three.  SPARKY AND TIDBIT is a Level Three in the Ready-to-Read books and is perfect for children in grades 1st – 3rd. The pages have plenty of words but also delightful illustrations to help tell the story and not overwhelm kids who are still hesitant to take on regular chapter books.

Sparky received his K9 cap, badge and collar for his birthday and is ready to start some real hero work.  As he walks around his neighborhood, he tries to find something heroic to do, but sadly, isn’t able to find any buried treasure or stop any bone robbers. Then he comes along his friend Tidbit, whimpering under a bush. Tidbit is sad because he can’t read. Sparky decides to spend an afternoon listening to Tidbit read one page of his book.  But, Sparky has hero work to do and can’t spend anymore time listening to Tidbit. Will Tidbit convince Sparky to keep listening or will Sparky find more important work to do?

This is a wonderful story that uses dogs to teach a lesson on helping others, patience, and the importance of reading. All the characters in the story are dogs and they do silly things which will make the child giggle and want to keep reading. Sparky and Tidbit are lovable dogs and I could easily see this becoming a series where Sparky continues to help out other dogs in his school and neighborhood.  This book would make a great addition to your school or child’s library.

Kathryn O. Galbraith – Photo by Mark Holloway

To learn about Kathryn O Galbraith and her writing, visit her website at KathrynOGalbraith.com.