A Wee Walk
 Margaret Clark
Craig Smith

Penguin Australia
Puffin Books 2001

102pp., pbk., $11.95
0141312688

 Whenever Old Mr Mac took Jock for a walk, Jock would sniff around the rubbish bins, park seats and telegraph poles for wee-mail - all those messages that dogs leave for each other when you take them for a walk.

One of the messages was from a female dog called Mitzi. The message said "I am going to have puppies and they belong to Jock!"  What a way to find out you will be a father! Jock also left messages like telling Boofa that he could not meet him in the park because he had to go to the market with Old Mr Mac.

And one day, when Old Mr Mac fell off the stepladder and hurt himself, Jock had to rely on the wee-mail to get help!

I really liked this book because it had a lot of funny bits in it and it made me want to keep reading it. My favourite part was the end when Jock and Mitzi told the other dogs they were going to have puppies.  Jock is a dog I would like for a pet because he is cute and smart. 

I would give this book ten out of ten and I would recommend it to other kids my age.  I would certainly give it to someone as a birthday present.

Kirbie, 10, ACT

This story is about a dog named Jock who loves going on walks with his owner Old Mr Mac. He loves his walks because he likes leaving messages to his friends using wee talk. He learns of all the happenings in the area by sniffing other messages from his friends, but what he enjoys most is leaving wee messages to all his friends about his friend Mitzi, who is going to have pups and he is the father.

One day after returning home from a walk, Old Mr Mac has an accident while putting their groceries away. He falls off his stool, bumps his head and can’t wake up. So Jock goes to the police station and leaves a wee message to Sam the police dog asking for help. When Sam returns from his duties he sniffs the message and takes a policeman to Old Mr Macs house. The policeman finds Old Mr Mac lying on the floor and rings for an ambulance. The ambulance takes Old Mr Mac to the hospital where he has to stay while he gets better.

While Old Mr Mac was in hospital, Jock stayed with Old Mr Mac’s daughter Morag. Morag would take Jock for walks every day but Jock didn’t enjoy the walks because he didn’t know any of the other dogs in the neighborhood. And most of al he missed Old Mr Mac and his friends, especially Mitzi.

One day Morag and Jock picked up Old Mr Mac from the hospital to take him home. They stopped at the park and to Old Mr Mac’s surprise, there was all of Old Mr Macs and Jocks friends their to give them a surprise party to welcome them home. Jock was so glad to be home with al his friends, especially Mitzi.

I enjoyed reading this book and read it in a couple of hours. It was an ideal book for someone like me to read. It’s a good book for people around my age and its good for kids who like animals, especially dogs. The illustrations were also good.

I think it’s the type of book to read at home with the style and size of the print just right as well as the language. I would probably tell my friends this is a good book to read and I would also read the other books written by this author.

Rachel, 8, ACT