MADELINE FINN AND THE LIBRARY DOG

Narrator Jill Frutkin is gentle of voice and unhurried of pace. She has the believable voice of a girl who is struggling with her reading abilities and who is mortified by the ridicule she receives in her classroom. In fact, Frutkin becomes quieter as the story unfolds until the moment Madeline meets Bonnie, the polar bear-like dog at the library who is available for listening to young readers. Volume and conviction creep into Madeline's voice as she reads to Bonnie, an ever-patient paws-in-her-lap companion. Madeline's final exclamation following a day of reading to her class is loud and joyful. (And listeners will delight in the surprise that Bonnie has for her young friend.) A.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2018]