Alfie was a fine-looking dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the son of a champion mother and father. His coat was sleek and shiny and his muscles stand out under his skin. But Alfie didn’t feel like a champion. His tail and his pesky ear just didn’t look right. And worse still, he was not very brave. Somehow he was scared of everything! He didn’t like the waves at the beach and the cows at the farm. He was scared of anything that had wheels, especially the big tractor. Then one day something happened that changed everything! It was while Harry, Alfie’s dad, was mowing the lawn, and something big, brown and scary came slithering out of the bushes!

I didn’t realise until I read more information about this book, that the author is Dr Richard Harris OAM, an Australian anaesthetist and cave diver, who, in 2018, was a key member of the cave-diving team who rescued the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand. He tells this story to let us know that bravery or courage doesn’t always come naturally but somehow, like Alfie, it comes when you need it the most.

Alfie the Brave, with every page of Simon Howe’s wonderful artwork that is full of life, will suck you and your children in so that you have to read it again and again.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 4+