Illustrations – Dan McGuinness
Five books in and I still love this series! Hotdog and his friends Kev the cat and Lizzie the lizard are on holiday at Rainbow Island, where Kev’s mother works as a doctor. Kev’s been helping his Mum look after sick animals, including a leopard with reverse-measles (his spots have fallen onto the floor 🤪).
The three friends join lots of other animals on the island for the annual Rainbow Island camping trip where they learn lots of useful skills and have fun. There’s even a biscuit eating competition featuring chocolate fudge biscuits. Yum! 😋
Of course there has to be an adventure and Hotdog and his friends use the skills they have learned to help them when things go wrong. The focus on teamwork in these books is always a winner for me. Whatever trouble our friends get into you know they’ll be okay as long as they work together.
I’ve yet to meet an Anh story I haven’t loved. I didn’t find this book quite as funny as previous stories but it was still a lot of fun. I loved the new characters introduced in this story, especially the teachers at camp. Then there was Kelly the kookaburra, who was always going to be one of my favourites as she reminded me of the kookaburras I feed each day, each with its own adorable personality.
The illustrations (greyscale and blue this time) are as wonderfully smile-worthy as ever. My favourite was a crab bringing home dinner – takeaway pizza! However I was also fairly amused seeing a fish jumping out of the water to high five one of the main characters.
Bring on the sixth book! 😊
Once Upon a Blurb
Hotdog, Lizzie and Kev are going CAMPING!
There will be wood-chopping, campfire singalongs and an EPIC biscuit-eating competition. It’s going to be awesome!
Can Hotdog, Lizzie and Kev learn the skills they need to survive in the bush?
Schizanthus Nerd 