This book was a little difficult for a five-year-old to follow. As her mother, it also took me a little bit of effort to get into. It was an interesting format, as every single chapter was a new adventure for the little dog. However, that also made the story feel rather disjointed and jumpy. It introduced new characters every single chapter and only gave you a chance to know three or four characters in depth. If this were a movie, I would call it rapid plot development. The ending is surprising, as you didn't really get to know the characters' relationships in as much depth as you would've expected for them to end up the way they did.
One thing that we really enjoyed it was the French lessons (even though my pronunciation is probably atrocious). I loved that my daughter would answer us "oui oui" instead of yes on occasion.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book as a fun activity with my daughter!
The Amberella Tales was written by Rosemarie Kaupp, published by Trafford, 2012.