Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper

Hairy Maclary #4

by Lynley Dodd

"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!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Dogs, Poetry, Cats

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynley Dodd knows how to capture little one's attention. All the children love the series and clamour for more.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[crίѕтίŋα•●Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ●• · Rating 4 out of 5]

🐱
He wake up a lizard,
he startled a bee,
and he bothered a black bird
high in a tree.
🐱

[Becky Loader · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every day you get to read the word cacophony in a picture book!

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Sue Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!!

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

"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.

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Alice Streatfeild · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were slightly disappointed that Scarface didn't send the dogs about their business!

[Freddie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a fan of loud cat screeching and dog noises, then this book will be fully appreciated when read aloud.

[Paul Graham Terpstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations as always.
Not much of a story in this one.
But good rhymes

[Adam Warda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book and good luck with the new book

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved doing all of the different barking sounds and the cat's yowl!

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Hairy Maclary

[Lynnea (Juv) · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love My Cat

[helen :)]

Read as a child

[Lottie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

All her books are cute!
I will be reading them all and I tell others about them!

[Natasha Fulcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favourite. Mummy makes very funny cat noises

[Jourdan Aanenson]

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.