Toppsta - Childrens Books – Reviews

Hairy Maclary is a bouncy, scruffy and mischievous dog whose cheeky adventures with his lovable animal friends (and enemies!) enrapture toddlers, pre-schoolers and their parents. Written and illustrated by award-winning Australian author Lynley Dodd, this series of twenty picture books has been around for thirty five years and is still going strong.
 
The success of the books lies in the wonderful, sing-song rhythm and verse along with the vivid illustrations of dogs and cats. The clever rhymes and colourful language make these books a joy to read aloud with lines like “Hairy Maclary felt bumptious and bustly, bossy and bouncy and frisky and hustly" and the rhythm and repetition encourages children to join in too.
 
In each book, we meet Hairy Maclary’s friends: dogs of all shapes and sizes with wonderful names - “Bottomley Potts covered in spots”, “Hercules Morse as big as a horse” and “Schnitzel von Krumm with a very low tum”, as well as cats for him to chase including the equally mischievous Slinky Malinki and his arch-enemy, the bullying tom cat Scarface Claw.
Some of these favourites take centre stage in their own books such as Schnitzel von Krumm, Dogs Never Climb Trees, meaning there is plenty to discover for fans of the dimunitive dog and his friends.
 
Little ones aged 2-5 are sure to love these books. You can read them in any order but Book 1 – Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy – is a great place to start and meet the gang of wacky animal friends.

All the Hairy Maclary books in order:-

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy (1983)
Hairy Maclary’s Bone (1984)
Hairy Maclary Scattercat (1985)
Hairy Maclary’s Caterwaul Caper (1987)
Hairy Maclary’s Rumpus at the Vet (1989)
Slinki Malinki (1990)
Hairy Maclary’s Showbusiness (1991)
Slinky Malinki Open the Door (1991)
Schnitzel von Krumm’s Basketwork (1994)
Hairy Maclary, Sit (1997)
Slinky Malinki Catflaps (1998)
Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (1999)
Scarface Claw (2001)
Schnitzel von Krumm: Dogs never climb trees (2002)
Zachary Quack Minimonster (2005)
Slinky Malinki’s Christmas Crackers (2006)
Hairy Maclary’s Hat Tricks (2007)
Hairy Maclary, Shoo (2009)
Slinky Malinki, Early Bird (2012)
Scarface Claw, Hold Tight (2019)