 |
This is a charming story about a young poodle named Bella and her pet grooming visits. It slowly progresses from Bella starting as an adorable little fluff ball to a Standard Poodle. The moral of the story is that beauty lies deep, and sometimes it takes someone special to find it in us. It seems that once the family moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina (and found the “jubilant, good ole Southerner” Angela) was when Bella grew into what the author describes as the “fully developed, beautiful Standard Poodle.” Beforehand, Bella’s family had thought that she was already her full self in Philly with groomer Lynn, but once they moved to North Carolina, they found out they were wrong. Bella was still growing and had a lot to teach her dog parents.
The author had her ten-year-old granddaughter do the book's illustrations, which was an overall winsome idea. Her illustrations do a good job of showing Bella’s transformation and, as a whole, are just whimsical enough to delight readers. This is a heartwarming and adorable story that parents will enjoy reading to their school-aged children before bedtime, especially if those kids are dog lovers. It has a good message, especially since it’s a good teacher for children to know that beauty is not just skin deep but that things take time. So it’s also a good lesson in patience. Speaking of teaching and lessons, this would make a good story to have in a classroom and use as a teaching tool about growing up, patience, and inner beauty.