3 out of 4 stars
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Following the themes of animal love and adoption, readers follow a small family as they adopt a cute and fluffy dog named Popo. Authors Bella Sou and Ava Sel have co-written the children’s book, Popo and His New Home, as the first in a five-part series following Popo and his adventures.
Six-year-old Rudy has always wanted a dog, so for her upcoming birthday she asks her parents one. To her delight, a furry friend is added to their family.
My favorite aspect of the story was the exposure to theme of adoption and the joy that dogs can bring to a family. There was even a page where the concept of looking online for adoption was touched upon, which I found very realistic because that is how I found my dog.
Illustrator Darzi Razie does a nice job in creating pictures to accurately portray the story’s plot. The only exception would be on Kindle location 13, where it states that Popo can make people laugh, while the illustration features a group of dogs laughing. That specific page is adorable, so children may not mind the mistake. It was an exceptional choice to include a diverse group of people who attended Ruby’s birthday. As someone who is nearsighted, I even appreciated seeing the amount of people wearing glasses at Rudy's party.
Though the characters weren’t developed too well, the idea of a child wanting a dog for his/her birthday is a relatable concept, I'm sure, to many children. Unfortunately, the writing was somewhat stiff and lacking in vocabulary. For example, the specific breed of Popo wasn’t mentioned and there weren't very many higher-level words included. In addition, there were a handful of mistakes, which in a short children’s book could be problematic for children to see as they learn by example.
Popo and His New Home is a quick, sweet book that I’m sure many children would enjoy reading. The illustrations were fun and the themes were great to explore, but due to the stiff writing and the errors, I give this children’s book a 3 out of 4 stars. It would be best suited for toddler to preschool-aged children to read with an adult.
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Popo and His New Home
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