Absolute family favourite. I loooved reading this to my children and they giggle in delight every time. ( )

Highly amusing cumulative story, with fun names to say, and funny dogs to admire. Beloved New Zealand author. ( )

While I love the book, it isn’t the most amazing story. The plot is simple, with a basic conflict of being scared by a cat and running back home as the resolution. The whole story is about a group of dogs who head out together, when they run into a large angry cat they all run back home to their beds. With that said, the story is ideal for young children age two through kindergarten. The story has a wonderful rhyme and pattern to it that allows children to follow along easily and predict what comes next. Every time a new friend is added to the story, the next page says “and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy”. The illustrations are cute and colorful to capture children’s interest. ( )

This is a simple tale told in verse describing each dog as Hairy Maclary (a Scottish terrier) goes around town collecting his friends to explore, until ...

I'm cheating a bit by adding this to my count, as my seven year old son read this to me. It's an old favourite and we needed something quick and easy for bedtime.

"Out of the gate
and off for a walk
went Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy"

As with many good children's books, a good part of the joy of reading it lies in the details in the pictures. I love it when I'm reading a book for the umpteenth time and I discover things I haven't noticed before. This time I noticed that though each picture is devoted to the specific dog being described, there is a paw or tail or some small part of all the other dogs that have joined the gang and are listed in the accompanying verse.

Fun, easy, catchy. We have liked this series for a long time.

5 stars ( )

Delightful doggie names and rhyming rhythm, with humor. This is n=*not* 'rumpus at the vet,' though, so I'm asking the goodreads librarians to fix it. ( )