Book Review: Magnus by Claire Shorrock

As soon as I saw the cover for this book on *Netgalley I knew I just had to request it. Come on who can resist a kiss from a dog?

Magnus tells the story of a GIGANTIC dog. Unfortunately Magnus can't seem to fit in anywhere. He is too big to play and well he is just plain too big to do much of anything. However one day when a fire breaks out Magnus is there to save the day. His large size is perfect for taking care of the dangerous fire.

So lets start with the good. My son loved this book. He loved the big dog and he loved the drawings. I too was enchanted by the illustrations. My favorite had to be his paws sticking through the roof of the dog house. It was cute and taught a great lesson that everyone has value even you don't see it at first.

Ok here is the bad and the reason that I have very hard time rating this book. It reminded me more than a little bit too much of Clifford. Clifford is an icon and this was just too similar. It's hard to write a book with a giant awkward dog and not have people think of Clifford.

So here is my dilemma it being too similar makes me put it at 3 stars. However my son is emphatic that it is a 5 star book. So I'm in a debate as I normally automatically default to what my chooses. This is one of the rare cases where I have to split the difference.

So this is a 4 out of 5 star book.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
**This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well