Reviewer's ChoiceMidwest Book Review, Children's Bookwatch, June 2015"A deftly crafted and original story, 'Devon: TheWild Adventures of Devon and Friends' is very highly recommended for both school and community library collections."Devon, the Wild Adventures of Devon and Friends is an illustrated storybook in verses with 30 illustrations for young readers ages 4 to 11. It is one long adventure story told in 70 pages of catchy rhymes. Little boy Devon visits the Zoo with his friends Qi, the wise panda bear, and his hungry, not-so-wise mutt, Picco. The Panda and Picco get in trouble and Devon enlists a stray dog, Hot Trot, and his army of strays to save them. Violence doesn't pay, and the strays are locked up as 'mean' dogs. New friends, a first-grade girl and her classmates, help Devon liberate all his furry friends from their scary plight, using their smarts and artistic talents. The book's format is amenable to staging and character reading and offers the opportunity of an interactive entertaining and educational experience. The book may be used by non-native English speakers, children and adults, to study English, on account of its rhyming recall qualities. The book extols values such as friendship, learning, peaceful solutions, at the expense of violence and vanity.
