Carnegie and Greenaway Awards: Oh No George

Chris Haughton
George is a dog with all the best intentions. And his owner, Harry, has all the best hopes that George will be a well-behaved dog when he leaves him alone for the day. But when George spies a delicious cake sitting on the kitchen table, his resolve starts to waver. You see, George loves cake. . . . Uh-oh. What to do now? It’s so hard to be a good dog when there are cats to chase and flowers to dig up! What ever will Harry say when he gets back? Chris Haughton’s fetchingly funny story and vibrant, retro illustrations are sure to lure dog lovers of all ages — and anyone who has ever met a temptation too good to resist.
I love this book! I really wish that it had been around when my son was a bit younger. He is a typical boy, who gets into lots of mischief, but deep down really wants to behave and this would have been the perfect book to introduce a discussion into those contrasting feelings to him.
The pictures should really appeal to young ones. Very simple and based around bight oranges and reds they are eye catching and give you lots to talk about without being too distracting or too detailed for young minds. I can really see why this book made the shortlist.
But for me it is the story line that really makes this book. All young children misbehave, they all do silly things. The scrapes that George gets into in the book are something that most young children would consider doing. When George gets ‘found out’ he feels very guilty, in the same way a young child would and then he gets the chance to make things better. This is all done on a level that a child would understand, giving them a chance to explore their own feelings on wanting to do things that they aren’t allowed to do. That George also gets the chance to do it all again the right way shows children that they can do it too and that we all learn eventually.
Verdict: A lovely, engaging picture book. A fantastic starting point for discussions about behaviour with small children.
Reviewed by Alison