Harriet Hound (Kate Foster, illus Sophie Beer, Walker)
Harriet Hound is eight years old, vegan, and autistic. Her family runs a dog rescue shelter, Hound’s Rescue, on Hound Lane in their town of Labrador. On her eighth birthday, Harriet’s Nana secretly gifts her a set of superhero pyjamas, allowing her to call on dogs from Hound’s Rescue whenever the day needs saving! Young animal lovers will find a lot to love here. Three separate stories are interspersed with doggy fact sheets (including adorable breed portraits by Sophie Beer), and the book concludes with a guide to rescuing a dog, detailing exactly what is required of new owners in terms of time, money, housing, and emotional support. In a direct—but age-appropriate—way, this guide encourages young readers to think carefully about whether they are ready to care for a dog. Those familiar with Foster’s previous middle-grade titles, Paws and The Hardest Word, will be unsurprised by her genuine, and often joyous, depiction of being autistic. All of Harriet’s classmates are autistic, and Foster takes the opportunity to explain to young readers that not all autistic people are the same. Harriet informs us that some of her classmates are loud, some are quiet, some stim (like Harriet), some have a full-time carer, and some are independent. Each child is unique, but ‘We all work together to make Miss Boyle’s classroom one of the most colourful, fabulous, perfect places ever!’
Books+Publishing reviewer: Hannah Gardiner has been a bookseller since the pre-Titlepage era. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.
