Busybody Brandy

by Jessie Haas, Yossi Abolafia (Illustrator)

Brandy, an energetic farm dog, spends his day trying to help all the other animals, who never seem to want him around, but at night they are all glad that Brandy is there to protect them

1 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1994

About the author

Jessie Haas has written over 35 books for children and adults, many about horses--a lifelong passion. She currently owns a Morgan mare, Robin, who is being clicker-trained to be a trail and pasture-dressage horse. She lives in a small, off-grid house in the woods with husband Michael J. Daley, two cats and a dog. When not writing or riding or reading she likes to knit, cook, and write, or ride, or read.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haas, best known for her horse books, here does a decent book about a farm dog named Brandy. Haas lived on a farm when this was written. The book is dedicated to her husband "and his dog", which suggests two things:

1) that this book was inspired by the family dog, and
2) for some reason, she and the dog did not get along.

The book looks at a day and part of a night in the life of Brandy. She is loved by the farmer (fortunately) but not by any of the other creatures on the farm. At first, she seems to just annoy them, but later on, she shows her true colors when a weasel, a fox, and a coyote sneak onto the farm.

Brandy sleeps in a doghouse. I'm not a fan of doghouses, but in this case, there was a good reason made for Brandy sleeping there. Still, unless you live in a farm and the weather is good, keep your dog in your home.

The text is for very young readers. The characters' voice changes are usually marked in changes in font, rather than by more conventional storytelling means. It's not hard to figure out.

The very good watercolor and black ink illustrations were by Israeli artist Yossi Abolafia. I think this was the first book he illustrated for Jessie Haas.

You can currently find this book at the Internet Archive.

[Kurt Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story about a dog on a farm, who all the animals think he is a busybody... until he saves certain animals from predators at night. Again, it's another outdated pre-1950s farm where every type of farm animal exists, and the farmer uses a pitchfork to put up hay. Not a very exciting book, even for kids, and illustrations are ok, but not on par with, say, a Lane Smith.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gift from Harper's grandmother