Puggleton Park, by Deanna Kizis

Peril for Penelope the Pug when she gets lost in Puggleton Park. Can she find her way home again?

“It’s a truth everyone knows that all dogs need a forever home,” opens Puggleton Park, the first in a series of Regency-era chapter books for emerging readers. Poor Penelope the Pug has found herself lost in Puggleton Park. Whilst relaxing with her Lady, she eyed a dreadful squirrel and decided to chase it. Bad move. Now she finds herself a stray. All is not lost, however. Good fortune manifests in the person of the kindly Lady Diggleton, who takes it upon herself to find Penelope’s Lady. This turns out to be no easy task, further complicated by Lady Diggleton’s friend Lady Picklebottom, who finds stray dogs quite horrid and wants Penelope sent away. Can Penelope be reunited with her Lady and live happily ever after?

Deanna Kizis (with delightful illustrations by Hannah Peck) has written a fun and often funny take on the Jane Austen classics. The story is full of society balls, high teas and proper decorum (Penelope is put through her paces by the fastidious dog trainer Mr Weeby), ending with a surprise disclosure by the dowager Lady Foxwise. A spirited and amusing frolic that doesn’t disappoint.

Readers 7-10 years

Puggleton Park, by Deanna Kizis. Published by Penguin. $11.99

JAN 25