I’m with you, Floppy

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‘Superdog’ by Roderick Hunt and Alex Brychta Oxford Reading Tree Stage 9

I was overjoyed to find a 50p Floppy favourite in the Acorn’s charity shop last Saturday. I couldn’t hold back my delight and, before I knew it, I was reading page 30 aloud to Dave at the counter.

My 3 children loved the Biff, Chip and Kipper stories. When my youngest started bringing them home from school, his older sisters would raid his book bag so they could read them again.

I’d like to pass on a heartfelt thank you to whoever preserved this wonderful Oxford Reading Tree book. Many ended up in the skip when the books didn’t fit in with the latest phonics fashion. Those who had to slog their way through the reading scheme year after year after year were only too glad to see them go, but let me share with you the joy I still find in these pages…

‘Superdog’ begins with Biff, Chip and Kipper watching the ‘Dog of the Year Show’ with their mum. The children watch excitedly to see who wins, then Biff tells Floppy to wake up and asks, “Why can’t you do clever things like them?”

Floppy is the family dog and he lights up the series for any dog lover, but what I especially love about this book is how its author, Roderick Hunt, and illustrator, Alex Brychta, work together to uncover Floppy’s innermost thoughts and let his personality shine through.

‘Floppy looked at the box. ‘Oh no! I’m too old to do tricks,’ he thought.’

He is clearly unimpressed by the children’s attempts to teach him new tricks.

‘Oh no!’ thought Floppy, ‘I don’t believe this.’

You can feel Floppy’s relief when Wilma and Wilf’s mum arrives to take everyone swimming:

Floppy was pleased, too. He just wanted to find a quiet place to sleep.

The magic key begins to glow…

Dogs don’t have magic adventures by themselves, do they?

He finds himself in a big city with coat-wearing dogs (‘What funny dogs,’ thought Floppy, ‘I’ve never seen dogs with coats on before.’). Now we see Floppy at his finest as his care for others spurs him to action time and time and time again:

‘Phew! That was a close thing,’ thought Floppy.
‘Got you!’ growled Floppy.
‘Another job for Superdog,’ thought Floppy.
‘I hope you’re not being nasty to this lost dog,’ he said.
It was time for Floppy’s adventure to end. ‘I can’t say I’m sorry,’ thought Floppy.

When Floppy’s adventure ends, he finds himself in the doghouse:

‘I don’t know,’ he thought, ‘I’m a hero one minute, and a bad dog the next.’

The story ends with Floppy finding refuge from the relentless ‘Dog of the Year’ training:

‘They won’t hide me in here,’ he thought.

Floppy’s last lines particularly resonated with me:

‘I don’t want to be the Dog of the Year,

and I’m not Superdog.

I’m just me.

I’m just a floppy old dog who wants a bit of peace.’

This floppy old dog feels the same. I’m not bothered about fame nor fortune. I care about others and I’m just doing what I can, with what I have, where I am in pursuit of peace.

Published by Read with Julia

Julia is a qualified and experienced Every Child a Reader teacher, who is passionate about bringing families and communities together through shared reading. She is seeking clarity of direction for a future where young and old bond through books, where relationships are strengthened, where obstacles to literacy are removed, and where reading becomes irresistible. Julia lives in Ledbury, Herefordshire with her husband, Sean. Their 3 children have all grown up and left home.

2 thoughts on “I’m with you, Floppy”

  1. The pursuit of peace – I like this so much Julia 💗 and Floppy……….(big sigh of contentment!), what a dog!!!

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