Scotty and the scotties by Gabriel Evans

What a fun picture book! The reader is sure to pick it up just from looking at the front cover with its appealing illustration of numerous Scottie dogs all with slightly different expressions and continue to read that ‘Scotty had known that a scottie was a scottie no matter what they looked like'.  But Scotty was sometimes bothered that no one could tell them apart – they all liked making sandcastles, playing pillow-fights, and singing. Sometimes Scotty liked to do his own thing, like making a new friend, or getting a new hat, but when he did, the other scotties copied him and he no longer felt different. No matter what new idea he produces, the scotties copied him. ‘It was impossible to be different around them.” Then one day he asked a stranger to explain why he wanted to be different – and here the reader is in for a great surprise, one that I didn’t guess, but very astute readers may have noticed the little detail that eluded me. And then like me will eagerly spend time poring over the illustrations to find the surprise that is lurking on every double page spread.

The humour in the illustrations will have readers chortling quietly to themselves, picking out the slightly different expressions on the faces of the scotties, and the page showing the scotties making a pyramid is gorgeous.

Young children will relate to the  theme of wanting to be different, especially if they have siblings, but will also recognise that loyalty to your family group is also important. Scotty and the Scotties is a book that reads aloud beautifully and one that is likely to become a firm favourite as children search and find the surprising plot twist.

Themes: Dogs, Search and find, Difference, Loyalty.

Pat Pledger