This was an adorable story. My son read it all on his own (with a little help with the names) and he’s not a super strong reader yet. The art work was so cute we talked about each picture throughout the story.

A really cute series for kids! It was so fun to follow this boy around when he became a puppy. I loved that he got to become best friends with his new dog. I think this series is giving kids a chance to see the world from entirely new perspectives. First a turtle and now a wiener dog! I can’t wait to see what’s next!

I received an electronic ARC from ABRAMS Kids through NetGalley.
Holmes returns to her Class Critters series with a humorous story with an important underlying message. David smuggled his brand new puppy to school for Show and Tell. To his shock, the puppy runs away. Readers will appreciate how this portion unfolds and predict that Bandit will escape. As David chases his puppy, he wishes he were a dog too. As expected in this series, his wish is granted. He experiences life as a dachshund; finds Bandit; loses Bandit, and is reunited with him with help from his human best friend. When he figures out the responsible actions and takes them, the story moves to the conclusion.
Holmes use language that mid-elementary students will comprehend. They will understand the message to pause and think before taking actions and be able to apply it to their own situations.

First sentence: David Dixon's backpack wouldn't stop wiggling.

Premise/plot: Magical things happen in Mrs. Norrell's classroom. But to keep the magic going, well, students have to keep it hush hush. David Dixon may have a super adventurous day, but, it's not like he can talk about it the next day with his classmates!

So the hush, hush secret is that Mrs. Norrell's students--one at a time, obviously--can transform into an animal to spend a day. In the first book, Tally Tuttle transforms into a turtle. David Dixon transforms into a dachshund. Which is interesting considering the fact that he brought his dog--a dachshund--for show and tell (without permission). So not only does he get to experience life through the eyes of a dog, he gets to play with his own dog as a dog.

But he also realizes throughout the book--slowly but surely--that maybe he isn't being the most responsible.

David lives for fun...but dog ownership requires a bit of maturity and responsibility. T

My thoughts: I like this series. This is the second book in the new series. I think it is appropriate for early elementary grades (first through third, perhaps). The age of the characters probably don't sync up perfectly with the reading level of the book. (This is fairly typical.)