Bagels the Brave. (Orca Echoes). Joan Betty Stuchner. Illustrated by Dave Whamond. Victoria, BC: Orca, 2015. 60 pp., pbk., pdf & epub, $6.95 (pbk.). ISBN 978-1-4598-0493-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-4598-0494-4 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4598-0495-1 (epub). Subject Heading: Dogs-Juvenile fiction. Grades 2-4 / Ages 7-9. Review by Robert Groberman. *** /4 Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy.

excerpt:

"Actually it's not that kind of camping," says Dad. "We've rented a cabin. Like the pioneers lived in."

"That's not camping," I say.

"What's a pioneer?" Becky asks.

"They're those long-ago people who didn't have televisions or bathrooms, "I explain. "They hunted for food because there were not supermarkets."

This is author Joan Betty Stuchner's second story about Bagels and the Bernstein family, the first being Bagels Come Home. Bagels is a mix of sheltie, Jack Russell and whippet. He is the family pet of Mom and Dad Bernstein and their kids, Josh, about 9, and Becky who turns 7 during this story. Josh is our narrator.

      The Bernstein family goes camping at Sasquatch Lake in this story. On the trip, the Bernsteins are unaware that they are being watched, but Bagels is constantly on guard and jumping into bushes and growling at unheard sounds. We find out that a Sasquatch is following the family and has picked up Mom's lost cell phone. Bagels' antics will have young readers laughing as he tries to protect his unaware family. Illustrations by Dave Whamond add to the meaning and laughter, especially Whamond's depiction of young Josh and Bagels entering a cave full of empty food wrappers from food stolen from their cabin.

      This beginners' novel for primary grades contains humour and characters to which children of this age can relate. Bagels, the dog who is smarter than his family, will be a favourite of the young readers who meet him.

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade one teacher at Katzie Elementary School in Surrey, BC.

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