THE MARE'S TALE

THE MARE'S TALE by Darrel and Sally Odgers

Somehow I missed Book 1 in this series when I was at a Paper Pie booth and picked up Book 2.

The Mare's Tale published by Kane Miller Publishing is a great early chapter book for kids interested in animals. Our narrator is a Jack Russell Terrier named Trump who is considered an Animal Liason Officer for his owner, veternarian Dr. Jeanie. His job is to communicate to the animals that Dr. Jeanie is seeing that she is going to help them- to try and bring a feeling of calm to the situation.

I'm going to rabbit trail for a minute. I was concerned for a moment when I saw our narrator's name was Trump. It turns out that the original foundation terrier for The Jack Russell Terrier breed in the 1800s was a little dog named Trump.

I was very pleased with all of the "extras" that went into this great little chapter book. There are lots of vocabulary words that kids this age are probably not familiar with in the story since we are dealing with a vets and specifics of animals. When these words occur, there is a boxed out area at the side of the story text with a pronunciation guide and a definition. Also, at the end of each chapter there is a "Trump's Diagnosis" box where he gives a few short sentences clarifying what the animal they visited in the chapter is dealing with.

Overall, this was a great early chapter book, and I look forward to reading more from the Pet Vet series in the near future!