Puppies in the Pantry (Animal Ark, No. 3)

I have fond memories of reading Animal Ark as a kid. Along with all the other series I'm revisiting at the moment, I've decided to set out to read all of Animal Ark. I know I read a hell of a lot of them but I know I didn't quite get through the whole lot.

Animal Ark follows Mandy and James two

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crazy obsessed animal lovers for work together to save all the animals in the world. Mandy is the adopted daughter of two vets and many books in the series revolve around her hometown of York and her parent's veterinary clinic - Animal Ark. James is her best friend and fellow helper/trouble maker. The series promotes responsible animal ownership, willingness to work hard for worthwhile goals and encouragement to lend a hand to family, friends and others in the wider community. Animal Ark is pure gold for young readers. Unfortunately they're a bit simple and a lot repetitive for adult readers but let's face it, those of us rereading are likely here for nostalgia than plot. Younger readers will find the series engaging, humorous, a little silly and lots of fun.

This one had a lot of plot. First off there's a movie being filmed that has animal stars - a black Labrador named Charley, a parrot named Mr Baggins, three cats and horses. The animal trainer fails to show up and George Sims, the driver, is left in charge of the animals. The the main animal star, Charley goes missing when she's left outside in the thunder. (Hence why you don't let a driver that doesn't really like animals and has no clue what to do with them look after them). James and Mandy search the town, notify the residents and call the radio to try to find her. Mandy checks the animal shelter for a poodle to replace Mrs Platt's poodle that had to be put down. James' dog Blackie gets a chance at stardom but fails when he chases the cats. (Well he is a devil dog.) Jess (Mandy's Aunt Mary's dog who's staying with them) is pregnant. Charley is found by Blackie and Jess when they take them for a walk. Unfortunately her leg is trapped in a snare, so Mandy runs for her parents and her dad undertakes a perilous journey through a forest and across a stream carrying a Labrador (which sounded very hard) to get her back to the clinic and wrap her leg. Charley gets well and then Jess has puppies. As I said, a lot of plot.

I enjoyed this one. It was action packed and interesting. I love the friendship between James and Mandy - they're so good to each other. And the relationship between Mandy and her parents is really good too - they've very loving and supportive of their daughter - even though she's animal mad. 4.5 stars for the target audience. 3 stars from me. It was good but still a bit simplistic.

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