LitPick Review
Sir DoGoody Button looks like your average dog living in an average doghouse in the backyard, but he is so much more. You see, DoGoody is a special dog and inside his doghouse is the spread of a beautiful mansion including an elevator. There is only one other animal that is aware of the expansive mansion and that is Fleabins, his best friend, the flea. DoGoody and Fleabins are so close. They spend a lot of time together in the doghouse, but DoGoody is the only one who, when he leaves, stays the same size. When Fleabins steps foot out of the doghouse he goes from the size of a small chimpanzee into a tiny flea that no one can see except DoGoody.
DoGoody is a curious dog and unfortunately finds himself in plenty of hot water with the Button family members. He loves taking things and burying them for safekeeping, but the problem is he forgets where he buries each item. Fleabins must always help DoGoody find things like his human brother’s missing library book. Or when DoGoody is enrolled in dog training school, Fleabins leaves the mansion to help break DoGoody out of his training. Although this sounds like such a sweet gesture of Fleabins in trying to help DoGoody, Fleabins breaks the most important rule that DoGoody made: “Never leave the mansion.” That’s because when Fleabins turns into a tiny flea, he finds himself in trouble at times. Being tiny makes no one able to see Fleabins except DoGoody. So when Fleabins causes havoc, everyone always thinks it is DoGoody’s fault. These two are always guaranteed to find themselves in some kind of trouble, but no matter how much trouble they get into, their friendship gets them through the rough patches together.
Opinion:
The first thing that really stood out to me about this story was the impressive doghouse that both DoGoody and Fleabins lived in. It was a beautiful mansion spread out on multiple floors. They had everything you could imagine in the mansion such as a ballroom, a spy room, and even a parking lot room. The different stories told of these two best friends working together to help each other out really enforced the theme to children that friends can come in different shapes and sizes. It doesn’t matter how different you both look, it’s what’s inside your heart that matters.
The illustrations that were scattered throughout the story, which were hand-drawn by Shannon Mckeon, were so amusing to look at. They perfectly matched the written text and added another layer of enjoyment to the story overall. Readers young and old can enjoy not only the written text, but the detailed illustrations showing just how much trouble DoGoody and Fleabins found themselves in all the time.
Another thing worth mentioning was the sense of humor Ms. Carson delivered throughout this fun children’s story that will have children and adults laughing out loud as they see the crazy antics DoGoody and Fleabins find themselves in. The author is not only a children’s book author but also a physician, and has a house full of rescue dogs who inspired her to write this delightful story.
Overall, Sir DoGoody Button & Fleabins the Great…Troublemaker is a children’s book that can be enjoyed by young and old. Readers will fall in love with Sir DoGoody and Fleabins as they turn the pages reading the story and looking at the wonderful illustrations. This children’s book comes highly recommended!
