All animals and animal lovers are welcome at the Animal Ark Veterinary Clinic. At Animal Ark, Mandy Hope helps her parents treat animals of all shapes and sizes. Even outside the clinic, Mandy can't resist helping any animal in need. Many and James are staying with her parents at a vacation house in the Lake District when they spot a mischievous Labrador on the lawn. James's dog, Blackie, is thrilled to have found a freind, but with no identification or collar, how will Mandy and James find her owner? And why does she seem so at home here?
Lucy Daniels is the collective name for the writing team that created the bestselling children's book series Animal Ark, many of the books are also published under the name of the series creator, Ben M. Baglio.
(LL) This book was barely about the Labrador, as the mystery of the puppy was solved in the first third of the book. It should have been about the otters! Perhaps they didn’t know a good title for it to match with the letter “O,” but I can think of like three right off my head: Otters by the Ocean, Otters by the Overlook/Outpost, and Otters in the (any name of a boat starting with O). It would have been nice to see a book focus on otters 🦦 instead of doing yet another book on dogs. (Dogs are my favorite animal, but come on with the constant dog books.)
Mandy's family along with her best friend James and his dog Blackie are off on vacation staying in a rented house. The first thing they find is an injured labrador puppy in the front yard. Mandy's parents are veterinarians who stitch her up and place a makeshift cone around her head which she wears for the majority of the story providing a bit of comedy. Finding the puppy's owners also leads to the finding of a newly created otter sanctuary to take care of orphaned or injured otters until they are ready to return to the wild. Everyone decides to volunteer at the otter sanctuary to help rebuild a special enclosure before an important inspection.
The story moves fast and kept my interest. However, the title of the book and the first part of the book does focus on the two labradors in the story. But even the summary on the back of the book mentions nothing about the rescued otter sanctuary that makes the story more interesting.
I have worked with children's literature for twenty plus years, and ANIMAL ARK has been a very popular series - and I have recommended the series on several occasions -- however this is the first one that I have read. A short chapter book at 139 pages with some wonderful illustrations by Ann Baum (my favorite being the last with the two otters). The series was created by Ben M. Baglio -- but this specific title LABRADOR ON THE LAWN -- number 61 in the series -- was written by Lucy Daniels
This title was released in 2003 -- but I think it still has the appeal to today's reader because it is about animals, has both strong girl and boy main characters, and it is easy to read. However, the story is based in England -- but doesn't sound very English -- could easily be in a little town in America except for the small village post office that sells bread and the field full of sheep.
If I come across another title in this series -- I will definitely read it.
I also learned a new word - squelchier (p97) -- The river washed in at the entrance where the sand had crumbled, making the ground even squelchier.
My favourite part was when the Labrador found her real home. The worst part was when she was lost and had to be taken care of by Mandy and her family. My favourite character was Mandy. There was no worst character. Auryn 11 years old, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.