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Hairy Maclary #4

Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper

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"Hairy Maclary heard a STRANGE sound, a yowling, a wailing that echoed around . . ." What could be causing the caterwauling cacophony that brings Hairy Maclary and his friends running?

Publishers Weekly promises the "wonderfully waggish words" of the Hairy Maclary series will "tickle the funnybones of parents and children alike." Read them all!

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

9 people are currently reading
187 people want to read

About the author

Lynley Dodd

129 books155 followers
Dame Lynley Dodd is an internationally celebrated writer for children whose titles are highly regarded and much loved by her readers in New Zealand and around the world. Her stories are known for their lively sound qualities, curious animal characters, and the memorable illustrations that accompany the text. Lynley has received numerous awards, both for her writing and illustration, and in 2002 she was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to children’s literature.

Lynley was a founding member of Bookrapt in 1983.

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5 stars
350 (46%)
4 stars
253 (33%)
3 stars
127 (16%)
2 stars
21 (2%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Sophie Crane.
5,311 reviews181 followers
June 27, 2020
Lynley Dodd knows how to capture little one's attention. All the children love the series and clamour for more.
Profile Image for Gerry.
Author 43 books118 followers
June 9, 2021
That mischievous and scary cat Scarface Claw was on the prowl and annoying any animal that he encountered be it a lizard, a bee or a blackbird up in a tree.

And when he went after the last named, he got stuck up in the branches. He let out an almighty scream, 'WROWWW-W-W-W-W-W-W'.

At the time Hairy Maclary was enjoying his lunch but hearing the din he set off to investigate, as did Hercules Morse, Bottomley Potts, Muffin McLay and Schnitzel von Krumm. And they all met at the foot of the tree from which the howling was emanating.

Each in their own way they let Scarface know that they were there and it was a tremendous cacophony that could be heard all over town.

Miss Plum heard it all and, complete with ladder, she arrived to rescue Scarface Claw, who quickly ran away while Hairy Maclary and the others returned to their respective homes.

Another exciting adventure in the life of Hairy Maclary!
Profile Image for Becky Loader.
2,227 reviews29 followers
September 18, 2021
Hairy Maclary and his canine pals have a dastardly neighbor cat named Scarface Claw, who often causes feline mischief around town. Today is no different.

When Scarface Claw gets stuck in a tree, he yowls so that all the dogs hear him. They go running to the tree to see what is going on. The dogs add their barking to the cat's yowling, and Miss Plum comes to the rescue with a ladder. All's well that ends well.

Told in repeating rhymes, the story is an excellent read-aloud saga for pre-schoolers.
Profile Image for Cassandra Doon.
Author 60 books84 followers
November 1, 2023
Book: Hairy Maclary’s Caterwaul Canter
Author: Lynley Dodd
Genre: Picture books, Children’s Books
Recommend: Yes
Amount of Pages 32
My feelings:

I really enjoy children books.
And read them to my kids every night. But one thing I don't do it review them.
Why I don't know, but I decided it was time to start.

There isn't a book by Lynley Dodd I dislike. I mean seriously they are so funny! The original book is a classic that every person on the planet knows! Always recommending this author for children's books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for JustOneMoreBook.com.
360 reviews180 followers
August 13, 2009
Six bark-along pooches, homey illustrations and spirited verse -- what youngster could resist this slightly retro, rhyming micro-adventure?

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

More rhyming dog reading on JOMB:


Fun Dog, Sun Dog
Don’t Lick the Dog
Stella, Unleashed!
Biscuits in the Cupboard
Good Dog
My Pup
The Pound from the Hound
Poodlena
Safe and Sound
Dirty Dog Boogie

Other dogs on JOMB:


The King’s Taster
May I Pet Your Dog?
How Smudge Came
Rosie: A Visiting Dog’s Story
Dr. White
Heroes of Isle aux Morts
Doggie in the Window
Owney the Mail-Pouch Pooch
Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog
Little Lions, Bull Baiters & Hunting Hounds: A History of Dog Breeds
“Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
The Trouble with Tilly Trumble
The Outside Dog
Lady Lupin’s Book of Etiquette
Dogs’ Night
I Want A Dog

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

176 reviews50 followers
May 31, 2020
I think Scarface Claw is my favourite character of all Lynley Dodd's creations. In this book he gets hopelessly stuck in a tree - can the usual gang find a way to help? I love the very last page as the dogs go 'back to their usual business and Donaldson's Diary'....be sure to go back through the story to see just what that 'business' was!!
Profile Image for Sally Edsall.
376 reviews11 followers
May 8, 2017
"With a twitch of his tail and a purposeful paw, down by the river crept Scarface Claw."
Oh, that gorgeous, alliterative "purposeful paw"....who said children's books can't employ language so inventively! makes all the run of the mill, pedestrian stuff look as ordinary as it really is!

This MIGHT be my favourite Dodd. All the dogs from Hairy Maclary are there, and the old bully, Scarface Claw who turns out not to be as tough as his own publicity might assume!
There are fantastic opportunities in this book to make great noises, as Scarface Claw and the dogs all make their own noises....and how deliciously appropriate are each...

Schnitzel Von Krumm: YIP-YIP Bitzer maloney: BOW-WOW-WOW-WOW Muffin McLay: RUFF-RUFF Bottomley Potts: RO-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO Hercules Morse: WOOF Hairy McLary: YAP-YAP-YAP
and Scarface Claw? WROWWW-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-
"The din was so awful that up hill and down, you could hear the CACOPHONY all over town." Gorgeous.
Profile Image for Jill Smith.
Author 6 books61 followers
February 1, 2022
I think this is a lovely early reader series for children.

Scarface Claw the cat was getting into mischief until he went up a tree and couldn't get down. The noise of the 'WROWWW-W-W-W-W-W-W' echoed around and roused the interest of Hairy Maclary who set off with a 'YAP-YAP-YAP', and Hercules Morse followed with a 'WOOF', Muffin McLay 'RO-RO-RO-RO-RO,' Bitzer Maloney followed the others with a 'RUFF-RUFF', lastly, Schnitzel von Krumm joined the others with a 'YIP-YIP'.

I love the sounds so different and very much suit the dogs and cat, and, yes old Scarface was rescued but ran quickly away, not willing to face the dogs that had gathered at the base of the tree.
Profile Image for Alice Streatfeild.
52 reviews1 follower
December 20, 2021
Scarface Claw sounds like a troublemaker, and he is. The cat creates a nuisance and gets stuck in a tree. The yowls then disturb the local dogs who are all doing dog like activities- digging, sleeping, eating etc. the dogs bark at the cat but don’t chase it when it is rescued.

Seems the author is firmly on the dog side of the dog vs cat debate.

There are repeating patterns which would help with reading/ identifying sounds.
Profile Image for Nicola.
3,653 reviews
November 26, 2018
Miss 4 now recognizes Scarface Claw as the naughty/scary cat on the Hairy Maclary street :P

Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Profile Image for Melki.
7,361 reviews2,631 followers
October 5, 2018
Scarface Claw is stuck up a tree, and he's making the most dreadful racket. The neighborhood dogs all join in the cry, til the CACOPHONY is overwhelming.

All the sound effects would make this one a fun read-aloud.
Profile Image for Sean Harding.
5,851 reviews34 followers
January 17, 2019
Book four of the Hairy Maclary series and the eight one that I have read - and another ripping little yarn from Dodd who really has created a great little world of characters here, the stories may be short but they leave a lasting impact!
Profile Image for Lynn  Davidson.
8,282 reviews36 followers
September 14, 2019
This is a really fun story in rhyme - about a cat that gets stuck up a tree, and all the excited dogs who hear him yowling. It's funny when read with all the different animal sounds. Great illustrations and ending.
Profile Image for Beverly.
6,131 reviews4 followers
September 23, 2025
Although there is not much story, the rhyming and repeating text will appeal to young listeners. And they will like the way everything works out in the end. The illustrations are tres cute and appealing.
487 reviews28 followers
December 30, 2019
We were slightly disappointed that Scarface didn't send the dogs about their business!
Profile Image for Freddie D.
898 reviews6 followers
June 5, 2020
If you have a fan of loud cat screeching and dog noises, then this book will be fully appreciated when read aloud.
Profile Image for Adam Warda.
25 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2020
Good book and good luck with the new book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
58 reviews2 followers
September 5, 2022
I found this book as I was reading the 1,001 Childresn's Books... This is a sequel to one of the recommended books and I liked it better than the original.
Profile Image for Lottie P.
42 reviews
September 6, 2025
The rhymes in this book are really fun to listen to and I love all the different dogs. The pictures are really bright and engaging and it was really good to stare at them whilst being read to.
Profile Image for Natasha Fulcher.
139 reviews
January 29, 2026
Me: ⭐️⭐️
Lola: ⭐️
Larni: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ezra: ⭐️

This had a good rhythm to it and the illustrations were cute but it was rather boring and didn’t have much of a ‘story’ to it.
Profile Image for Eleanor.
5 reviews1 follower
July 29, 2018
This is my favourite. Mummy makes very funny cat noises
40 reviews1 follower
Read
March 2, 2010
This book is about all the neighboor hood dogs venture out to find out what is making a terrible noise, once they find out what it is someone is there to save the day.

The brush strokes in the dogs fur are curley and they are drawn to his movements. Its not only on the main characters fur but it is all of the animals fur. The pictures are all on the left pages and the words are on the right. The way the author portrayed this i think should of been more random. Children like it when not everything is the same. The dogs drawings are very unique and unlike any other of what i have seen in any other picture books. These pictures are great but i dont think that children would adapt to this book like some others. The colors are very neutral. There are no borders. The title page in this book gives a preview about what the book is going to be about. And this is very great beucase some books do not have this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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