posted on 13 Dec 2019

McTavish On The Move by Meg Rosoff

‘Rescue dog’ McTavish is back again for another instalment of Meg Rosoff’s heart-warming series about the savvy canine who cunningly knows how to save the family he lives with from their own excesses.

This is now the fourth book in the series ( you'll find reviews of earlier adventures here and here) and this time McTavish and the ever eccentric Peachey family are on the move – an event that is not necessarily welcomed by all members of the family. It looks as if our spirited hound is going to have to take a hand (or should that be paw?) again to maintain the equilibrium.

When Pa Peachey comes home in an uncharacteristically chipper mood, the family knows there is something going on – but what? It transpires that he’s gone and got himself a new job that will necessitate a move of house for the whole family. Ma Peachey is pretty amenable to the change but the children are all less than enthusiastic until they see that the new house isn’t so different from the old one. In fact it has plenty of advantages.

However, the youngest Peachey, Betty, remains unconvinced. She likes the new house well enough – she’s got a good room, a hidey-hole for disappearing into and she can take McTavish out for a run around the nearby park with ease. No, the house isn’t the problem. It’s school that’s the issue. Betty is convinced that moving home means she’s going to have a terrible time at school where she’ll know no-one and she’ll never fit in.

Ma Peachey does her very best to convince her that all will be well but Betty isn’t swayed and her anxiety gets greater as the day approaches when she’ll have to brave the new school. And this is where the cunning McTavish steps in with his plan to help.

Now, obviously I’m not going to tell you what he gets up to because you’ll want to read that for yourself. What I can tell you is that at the end no-one knows what on Earth made the silly dog do what he did……….except us.

As before there are plenty of illustrations dotted throughout the book – some full page – and this being part of Barrington Stoke’s Conker series, there are the usual added extras at the end. This time we get Betty’s six top tips for making new friends at school, a profile of the author and a little bit about McTavish himself.

 

Terry Potter

December 2019