Aggie the Brave was written by Lori Ries and illustrated by Frank W. Dormer. It was published by Charlesbridge in 2010.
Aggie the Brave is a story that takes you through the process of Aggie, the dog, getting spayed. Ben (little boy) is concerned about Aggie. First there’s the visit to the vet. Then there’s the wait and return of Aggie. And finally, there’s the recovery of the dog.
I’m sure many children must get freaked out when their pets have to go to the vet. All pets get sick and need to be treated... it would be nice for Canada to have some kind of health insurance for pets.
Aggie the Brave is told completely from the point of view of Ben, the child. There seems to be a serious lack of apostrophes with the writing but that’s alright. I’m guessing Ben wanted to write in a formal style.
The story does have a lot of drama and this might be a good book for parents to show their children before that “dreaded” visit to the vet.
I enjoyed the illustration very much. Frank Dormer has a nice touch with the watercolors and I didn’t feel any discomfort with any of the drawings (I do like the use of blue in the “going to bed scene”).
Overall a well written book.
