The Hospital Dog

Product Information

Dot, a sweet Dalmatian, and her owner Rose, are doing wonderful volunteer work at their local hospital. Dot loves to go there and offer herself for pats, hugs and companionship to those afraid and hurting in so many different ways. Meet Dot, she and her owner Rose may look ordinary and just be a normal owner/dog couple that loves to swim in the sea, but they are superspecial. Because a lot of the time they are visiting a hospital and then especially the children’s ward of the hospital. To bring some happiness to sad, angry, worried, stressed kids. Dot is here for them! I just adore that so much and I was aww-ing A LOT.

The patients in Wallaby Ward are shown in bed, in plaster, with spots, in a wheelchair and with no hair. The illustration of the ward is one of our favourites, it’s bright, colourful and full of visitors and staff as well as patients who are nervous, bored and in pain. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. My novel The Giants and the Joneses is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic Princess Mirror-Belle who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. All in all, a beautiful and fun book about dogs, hospitals, and making people happy. Highly recommended.

Author/Illustrator

In another heart wrenching case, Graeme accompanies the veterinary physiotherapy team as they work with 12-week-old Sussex Spaniel, Elton, who requires rehabilitation to regain his ability to walk following a debilitating home accident. Owner Philippa entrusts Elton’s care to the hospital’s experts, hoping they can restore mobility to his hind legs.

Alex O'Connell, Children's Book of the Week, The Times The verse skips along as cheerfully as Dot on her way round Wallaby Ward.

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This is a really nice story with lively illustrations. The story rhymes beautifully, and the story is engaging and makes us smile. The illustrations depict all the sorts of things children might see in a hospital, encouraging them to talk of charts, sanitiser, doctors and nurses. The comparison with Dot in her own form of hospital, recovering from her own accident, is a great lead in to calm children’s inexperience.

Therapy Dogs Nationwide is a national charity where visiting volunteers take their own dogs into establishments to provide comfort, distraction, and stimulation. My real breakthrough was The Gruffalo, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately – he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow – but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. In new four-part series The Dog Hospital with Graeme Hall, he gains exclusive access to Willows Hospital in Solihull, one of Britain’s busiest and most advanced veterinary hospitals.

The very special brand of care, companionship and therapy that Pets As Therapy provides is being increasingly recognised by the medical profession. Volunteers are being asked to assist with stroke rehabilitation work, and help people with phobias or mental health issues. Many schools are also now inviting Pets As Therapy dogs to spend time in the classroom and help children with reading difficulties. We would like to thank members of the local community for their patience and support whilst we were in attendance at this incident.”

Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. The stunning illustrations show the range of children in the ward; a bored teenager, a child without hair, kids on crutches or bed bound, children in wheelchairs, kids who are unsure or unhappy, and Dot visits each helping in some way to make them smile. Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.All Pets As Therapy volunteers need to provide references, and the dogs go through a strict assessment to make sure they are suitable. Dogs must be healthy and happy to be fussed over. But they can’t get too excited and bark, jump up or paw people – hygiene and safety is paramount, and some frail patients may have paper-thin skin. The benefits of therapy dogs