Inspiring Young Readers

posted on 19 Mar 2026

The Good Deed Dogs by Emma Chichester Clark

I have to start with an admission: I’m not a dog person. I do know, though, that there are legions who would disagree with me and who find everything about dogs endearing. If you fall into that category, The Good Deed Dogs is definitely for you. If, on the other hand, you share my views on pets, you’ll be delighted to discover that this may be a book for you too.

The key to this seeming conundrum is the author and illustrator, Emma Chichester Clark. Here at the Letterpress Project, we’ve been long-time admirers of her work and we’re already well aware that she’s a great fan of dogs – so the adventures of three well-meaning dogs on a mission to find a cause comes as no surprise.

Bodger, Billy and Betty are out and about looking for people to help and the first candidate is an elderly woman struggling with her shopping. The three dogs leap to the challenge and are so keen that:

“CALAMITY!

The bags ripped, vegetables flew,

fruit squashed and everything went everywhere.”

In the end, all they can do is help with the clean-up.

The next candidate for help is the local florist watering his flowers – but again disaster!

And the young girl hanging out her washing? Yes, you’ve guessed it: another disaster.

After all of this, Bodger, Billy and Betty are feeling a bit miserable – they only wanted to help and everything goes wrong every time. Well, that’s true until:

“SUDDENLY…a loud scream made all their ears stand up on end.”

Obviously, I’m not going to reveal what happens next because you’re going to want to find that out for yourselves but prepare yourself for an unexpected conclusion.

As is always true with books by Emma Chichester Clark, the charming story is only part of the overall experience. It is, of course, as much about the unmistakable illustration as anything else – it’s almost as if there are numerous other little stories to explore in the large format drawings which tumble with detail and bring every page to life.

It’s a perfect book for young readers but it will also delight adults who read it with them, individually or in collective settings like nursery or school.

Available now from Walker Books, you can get a copy from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

March 2026