SLEEPYTOWN BEAGLES OH BROTHERS! by Timothy Glass

This is the third offering in the Sleepytown Beagles series and it certainly has a lot going for it. Timothy Glass, with this series, has used a unique, yet typical family of Beagles to bring important messages to the wee ones of any household. In this particular work the author addresses the often stressful time when a new member, i.e. a new brother or sister, arrives and upsets the normal routine of a young child’s life.

Gunner, Penny and Panda, the three little tri-colored beagles in the story, as suddenly confronted with the arrival of a new member of their little pack; Tyler, a new puppy. While Gunner, the oldest is rather philosophical about the situation, and Penny, the wise one, are able to accept this new “brother,” Panda is not quite sure, and signs of insecurity and a wee bit of jealousy rear their heads. Ben, the little boy of the household is told the next morning that he too will soon have a new baby. He is rather excited until he learns that it will be a sister, rather than the brother he wants. The author has nailed the emotions of the child Ben, perfectly and illustrates them perfectly using Panda the Beagle as an example.

Now the beagles in the Sleepytown Beagles series can talk, and they do. Any dog owner is aware of the fact that their beloved pets can indeed communicate, and do it quite well. It is an easy leap to accept this fact and replace the normal body language, et al, with human voices (I know I do this all the time with my dogs anyway, providing the voices for them and I would guess that there is not one dog owner out there that does not do this frequently). The leap is not all that difficult. Let’s face it; we all grew up on T.V. where an animal talking is quite a common thing.

Panda of course, as mentioned, is having trouble adjusting to the new brother in the family and is experiencing the same emotions that Ben is and will be having. Through the wisdom of Penny, both Ben and Panda are able to look at the bright side of things and find acceptance and excitement about the new changes in their lives.

Children can relate to animals, many times better than adults can, and in fact can relate to the animal better than they can relate to the adult. The author has used this fact to act as a vehicle to teach children many important lessons in life. I know in my own life, I have found that often my companion dog is much wiser than I am and has taught me many lessons…why not extend these to children?

This work is quite well written with Glass’ typical laid back style. Story is quite easy to follow and even though the lesson being taught is quite profound, it goes down easy and the child is actually taught important lessons without realizing they are being taught. This is important as it is rather human nature to fight against strict lectures and boring facts. I like this method of teaching. The illustrations are quite good; simple with mellow colors and they fit the text perfectly. The illustrations are very well executed and will appeal to the little ones.

As with all the children’s books I review, this one has been “kid tested.” In this case I used two classes of second graders. They gave it their approval, and trust me; they are a hard core bunch of little literary critics!

This is a wonderful book for parents to use with their children when a new member of the family is on the way. It is also simply a fine and sweet story to be enjoyed by all.