Monday at Jelly Roll Dog Park by Jennifer Schreiber

In Monday at Jelly Roll Dog Park, it’s Monday and a new dog, Muttley, arrives at the park. Ostracized by other dogs because he isn’t a purebred, Muttley is consoled and mentored by Jelly Roll’s guardian angel, Daisy Mae the bulldog. She’s a former friend of the in-crowd and helps Muttley navigate the pack’s standoffish bark. Through discovering his own strengths, Muttley is able to rise above the bullying and earn the respect of the other dogs. Cleverly told and beautifully illustrated, Monday at Jelly Roll Dog Park, teaches kids how to face a bully the Muttley way.

I have to admit that I am definitely a cat person.  I’ve never even considered owning a dog.  Yet I found this book to be completely endearing.  The illustrations are seriously incredible, they look to be ink and watercolour. Illustrator John LaFree is so talented that I almost wish I had a pet dog for him to illustrate for me! 

Of course, this is a children’s book and my girls just loved it.  Both of them are “dog people” so they got pretty excited to have a story read to them about puppies.  They are young enough that they haven’t experienced bullying yet but it is nice to be able to start early with teaching them about valuing and accepting other people – no matter how different they may appear to be outwardly.

It’s a sweet story with a great message told in a really approachable way.

Monday at Jelly Roll Dog Park by Jennifer Schreiber is available to purchase through inkshares or on Amazon in both e-book format as well as hardcover.