Children's Book Review: Island Potcake Dogs by Mary R. Lee

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: New Year Publishing LLC; First edition (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935547151
• ISBN-13: 978-1935547150
• Buy now at Amazon

Summary:

The adventures of 2 wild dogs, Pot and Cakes, who find a way to survive extreme hardships in the Bahamas and come to live happy lives in the the U.S. 

My Review:

4.5 stars out of 5

Having three rescue dogs myself, I fell in love with the story and was happy to see Mary and her husband Henry bring Pot and Cakes back home with them after their trip to the island of Nassau.  I never knew there was such as thing as "Potcake" dogs.  These dogs are a mixed breed of wild dogs found on the islands of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.  They get their funny name, Potcakes, because people leave pots filled with food outside for these wild dogs to eat.  The dogs eat up all the food that is caked to the bottom of the cooking pots left out for them, hence the name, Potcakes.

Mary and her husband, Henry came across 2 dogs in a parking lot while vacationing and began bringing them food.  They fell in love with the two dogs and decided to bring them back to MA with them.  This story follows the family and the two wild dogs, as they adjust to new life in the US, and details their journey through puppy school and more, as they become acclimated with their new surroundings and begin to realize that they are loved and will be cared for.  What a touching story.  It is always nice to see people like Mary and Henry open up their hearts and homes to dogs who just want to be loved.  This is why my husband and I have been rescuing dogs.  We have a soft spot in our hearts, and have spoiled our three rescue dogs, and wouldn't have it any other way. 

If you are your children love dogs, this is a great book to read together.

About the Author:

Artist Mary R. Lee attended the Corcoran School of Art, in Washington D.C. and also studied in Switzerland and Greece. She exhibits her work throughout New England. Her professional experience started in New York with cards reproduced by George Caspari Inc., and Cranes Paper Company in Dalton Massachusetts. For seven years she has shown her work at the Newbury street gallery Monhegan in Boston. She also designed the logo for The Boston Cultural Collaborative for Early Leaning, which represented eight museums of Boston. Mary Lee was filmed by WGBH-TV as the art instructor for the A.C.E.S. Project in collaboration with the Museum of Science, the Children s Museum, and Zoo New England. She recently wrote and illustrated Island Potcake Dogs, a series of early learning books, inspired by so many dogs, who find a way to live through extreme hardships.

Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher in order to write up an honest review.  The views above are mine and mine alone.