I love featuring both adult and children’s books here on Linda’s Book Bag and would like to thank Maverick Ashbrooke for sending me a copy of The Naughty Dog: A Catalogue of Disasters and General Mayhem in return for an honest review.

Published by Austin Macauley on 29th November 2019, The Naughty Dog: A Catalogue of Disasters and General Mayhem is available for purchase in all the usual places including here.

The Naughty Dog: A Catalogue of Disasters and General Mayhem

The Naughty Dog is the story of a very misunderstood Doberman dog.

Naughty dog was found in a junk/scrap yard, living in an old car and lying on rags. He was rescued by a man called Eddy and sent to a family who found it hard to love, but through various accidents and mishaps, naughty dog helps to bring the family closer together and opinions gradually change about naughty dog and how he may not actually be naughty!

It also tells the story of his close friendship with a little boy called Arthur and how they both have fun and grow up together, learning about life and themselves, with further adventures from Arthur’s family, Grandpa Jed, Grandmother Little Bea, Uncle Eddy, his Dad-Peanut the Ice-cream Man, Great Auntie Moria and many more characters who are influenced by the presence of naughty dog.

With short stories about naughty dog and Arthur, such as ‘The Exploding Lighter’, ‘Bonfire Night and the Bully Who Screamed like a Girl’, ‘Arthur’s Dad-Peanut the Ice-cream Man’, ‘The Tortoise That Was Mistaken for a Pie’, ‘The Disappearing Turkey’, ‘The T-Shirt Gas Mask’ and many more, they will make you laugh, cry, shock you and keep you engaged throughout.

For children who want to know about owning a Doberman dog, family life in the 1970s onwards and for adults who want a trip down memory lane, this book won’t disappoint!

My Review of

The Naughty Dog: A Catalogue of Disasters and General Mayhem

A collection of short stories featuring a naughty dog – or two!

I have one slight criticism I’d like to get out of the way before I review The Naughty Dog fully. I found some of the sentences rather lengthy with too many semi-colons to support all children reading independently.

That said, The Naughty Dog is a humorous collection of highly entertaining stories. Children aged 8-11 in particular will love the scrapes that Dog gets into, from pooing in front of Albert’s would be girlfriend to chewing shoes. There’s humour aplenty in these stories so that they are very uplifting and diverting. Lots of weighty themes arise too, that would enable adults sharing The Naughty Dog to explore with youngsters, such as behaviour, swearing, death, friendships and so on. The final story leaves the reader wondering just what will happen next for Dog so that there is ample opportunity for discussion and imagination.

However, whist The Naughty Dog is a book that could perfectly well be shared with children, and I’m sure they’d thoroughly enjoy it, for me it works best as an adult collection. So many elements really bring alive the 1970s from the clothes to the music, television to That’s Life’s talking dog that I was transported back to my youth. I kept thinking, ‘Oh yes. I remember that’ as the references and allusions underpinned the stories so that reading The Naughty Dog brought a smile to my face and memories flooding back.

The Naughty Dog is a fun and entertaining set of stories that remind the reader just what it was like to be a child in the 1970s. I enjoyed it and think it works for children of all ages – even as old as me!

About Maverick Ashbrooke

Maverick Ashbrooke’s has always possessed a creative mind via mediums such as art and craft, also studying and working as an engineer up to his late 20s. He then decided to look at how people’s minds worked and trained as a therapist. For the past 16+ years, he has worked as a therapist in the North East of England, where he also currently resides. However, having an imagination has always meant he wants to do more in his life and this is where his writing came to light over the last few years after losing his father suddenly.

Maverick Ashbrooke is hopeful this first book will lead to more in this area and has many more ideas to take this story forward. He has had dogs throughout his life, and much of this story is from his own childhood, also fiction and from stories he has heard over the years from other dog owners, to combine this first book and coming books in the future.

Maverick Ashbrooke continues to walk his current Doberman and has stories to tell of his antics as a close member of his family unit.

You can follow him on Twitter @MaverickAshbrke. and find him on Facebook.