Here Comes Trouble!

If your child likes reading humorous books, Here Comes Trouble!, written by Corinne Demas and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones, is a great read!  A dog, named Toby, very clearly doesn’t like cats.  The author uses great descriptions of the kinds of cats Toby doesn’t like.  Trouble starts when his owner, Emma, agrees to keep the neighbor’s cat, Pandora, when they go on vacation.  Toby tries to get Pandora to notice him by doing various mischievous things.  Of course, Pandora doesn’t notice, but she starts doing things and nobody notices.  Toby is not happy about all of the things Pandora does until he discovers Pandora can’t get down from the tree she has climbed.  Then Toby does everything to get Emma’s attention so that Pandora can be rescued.  Pandora is rescued, and it is quickly apparent to the reader that Pandora and Toby become friends. 

This book would be a great mentor text for children in writing discussions.  The author uses alliteration to describe the kinds of cats Toby doesn’t like.  The simple narrative is a great study for character development.   One quickly gets a sense of the personalities of Toby and Pandora.  There are many ways in which children could build upon this book to develop their own stories about Toby and Pandora (or other animal characters).

We hope you enjoy the humor of this book as much as we do!  It’s a book that will make you laugh out loud!

Question Collection:

*Do Toby and Pandora remind you of any dogs or cats you know?

*Why do you think Toby helped Pandora?

*What do you think Toby and Pandora will do next?