More Tales of Seamus the Sheltie

* property of Arm Chair Interviews.**

Childrens
4 stars
http://www.nightengalepress.com/
http://www.seamusthesheltie.com/
2009

More Tales of Seamus the Sheltie
Author: James Beverly
Illustrator: Anita Miles
Nightengale Press

Reviewed by: Laura V. Hilton

Seamus is a real Sheltie dog and the stories in this book, and the previous book are based on some of the real life adventures that Seamus had when he was outside on the farm. Other stories were made up from requests that parents had written in with, like they wanted Seamus to have to learn to deal with bullies, or helping people, or fear of doctors or other difficult issues for children.

Seamus is a real sweet, kind, intelligent dog, but being a dog he doesn’t talk like people do. The author has made up a sort of “Seamus” language that he imagined Seamus might talk like if he could talk. It was kind of difficult for me to read at first, but when I read the story out loud it was much easier to understand. In the beginning of the book, the author goes into detail about why he chose to make Seamus and his friends talk the way they do.

I really enjoyed reading these stories out loud to my children, though I think the age levels are a bit unclear. My four-year-old was unimpressed and easily bored with the story, she was more fascinated with finding the pictures and talking about them. My seven-year-old enjoyed the story, but didn’t have any interest in reading the book for herself, she wanted me to read it to her. So this would be a great book for cuddling with an elementary age child, and could encourage conversations about difficult events that happen in the child’s school or private life.

If readers are interested, they are also invited to join the Seamus fan club! All they have to do is go to http://www.seamusthesheltie.com/ and they will send you a member certificate, poster, coloring book, and much more.

The book is a bit pricey at $14.95 for 176 pages, but the stories and quality time with your child make it more than worth it. The author also indicates at the end of this book that more books with Seamus’s adventures will be following.