posted on 16 Mar 2025

The Appletree Animal Agency by Katya Balen, illustrated by Gill Smith

This is the first book in a new series of animal adventures by this acclaimed author, winner of the Toto Carnegie Medal. Here at The Letterpress Project, we have been impressed with her previous stories published by Barrington Stoke that have focused on birds (here and here)

Many children yearn to have their own special pet to look after but some parents are not so keen. Mattie Robins is described as ‘a whirlwind’ and has ‘too many madcap ideas’ so that her dad feels that she is not quite ready for the responsibility. In the meantime she pretends that all the night animals in her garden are her pets. Having a big tree-house at the top of an apple tree gives her a splendid view of the hedgehog, fox cub and other interesting creatures. One night she spots a shooting star that bears a strong resemblance to a puppy, and wishes that her dream of owning her own puppy might come true. She is lucky to live near to the friendly village vet, Dr Joseph, who lets her and her best friend Zoe, help him out at the surgery.

When Zoe loses her dog, Heinz, the two girls plus their friend Nate set off on a frantic search through the village to find him. I liked the way in which all the adults that they meet along the way offer positive advice about finding him. This is a tight and caring community where children can roam freely and safely with not a screen in sight anywhere. It would be interesting to talk with young readers about how this might contrast with their experience of the real world.

As they search amongst the bushes they come cross a scruffy, stray puppy who takes an immediate liking to Mattie. Concerned adults offer plentiful food for the puppy and the children as they decide what needs to happen next. But when they take him to Dr Joseph, they get a big surprise:

‘The front garden looked like a zoo had exploded in it ….A parrot was squawking at the top of a rhododendron bush. A goat was eating the bottom of the rhododendron bush. Two cats in a carrier were mewing. A fat iguana was eyeing them suspiciously from its tank. A big three-legged dog was barking happily.’

This chaotic picture is one of many perfectly described moments. The plentiful illustrations throughout will help to inspire children to draw their own detailed pictures in response to the text. It seems that the apparent mayem is due to the temporary vet, Dr Polly who has moved to the village with her son Casper. She runs an animal rescue project full of poorly creatures which they have bought along with them. This turns out to be an amazing opportunity for Mattie to help out and to prove that she is very capable of looking after animals of all shapes and sizes.

I won’t spoil the story as you will want to find out about her various adventures and mishaps for yourself. She and her friends are a group of very creative children who come up with an imaginative scheme to match pets with potential owners. Be prepared for plenty of tension and moments of jeopardy alongside lots of information about animals. There is also quite a lot of excellent descriptions of ice cream which made me feel very hungry!

I strongly recommend this engaging story published by Walker Books which is now available from your local independent bookshop. They will be happy to order if not already on the shelves.

 

Karen Argent

March 2025