Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Claude in the Spotlight

Claude in the Spotlight

Alex T. Smith
Fiction  Series
For ages 6 to 8
Peachtree Publishers, 2015   ISBN: 978-1561458950

Claude the dog lives with his two humans, Mr. and Mrs. Shineyshoes, in a house that has a bright red door with a big brass knocker. Claude’s best friend is a sock called Sir Bobblysock, and together they have all kinds of adventures. Every single one of these adventures starts the same way; Mr. and Mrs. Shineyshoes leave the house and then Claude, wearing his red beret and a red jacket, goes out.

On this particular day Claude goes for a walk in town and he sees a group of children wearing peculiar clothes going by. He decides to follow them, and then he finds himself in a dance class with the children. Soon Claude and the children, urged on by the very enthusiastic teacher, are warming up and then dancing. Claude is rather enjoying the tap dance session when a small fly flies up his sweater. The insect’s movements are very ticklish and soon Claude is dancing up a storm. In fact his dancing is so remarkable that the teacher invites Claude to be in a variety show with the rest of her students. The winning performer (or performers) will win cakes from Mr. Lovelybun’s Bakery. Mr. Lovelybuns is a remarkable pastry chef. Even Mr. Bobblysocks, who is very picky, thinks so, so the prize is very attractive indeed.

Claude, the teacher and the children walk over to the theatre and Claude meets the other performers. There is a magician, a troupe of lady dancers, and a very large singer who plans to demonstrate how she can break a glass just by singing. It is all so very interesting!

Then the magician comes up and tells Claude that a ghost jumped out at him and he tried to steal the magician’s wand, which is now broken. How is he going to perform with a broken wand? Unfortunately, having a damaged wand has a very disastrous effect on the poor magician’s performance. Then when the dancing ladies come on stage, the theatre ghost scares them so badly that they all fall over and one poor lady falls into the orchestra pit and gets her head stuck in a tuba. The theatre ghost is destroying the show!

In this fifth Claude title the dog who has such interesting adventures steps out onto the boards for the first time. Somehow Claude, with his faithful sock friend at his side, without even meaning to, manages to end up in the middle of a mystery. Children are going to thoroughly enjoy this funny title, which will perfectly suit readers who are starting to read chapter books on their own.