Annie is a little different to her classmates. She’s eleven, with brown eyes and brown hair and lives in a little town called Upson Downs, but that’s not why she’s different. She likes to wear her grandfather’s old tool belt wherever she goes, filling it with things she can use to fix things. Then there is the fact that her best and only friend is a small dog named Runt. His name isn’t for nice reasons. He was always in trouble with the townsfolk of Upson Downs, especially with the Constable who has tried everything to catch the little dog. Runt was a nimble and clever thief.

When Annie spied Runt hiding one day near where she ate her lunch alone at school, she befriended him and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Runt’s thieving days are left behind.

Upson Downs is a poor community in rural Australia, struck down by drought. Although it hasn’t rained for a long time, the key to their once thriving town’s demise is all due to one greedy, selfish, horrible man – Earl Robert-Barren. Incredibly wealthy, he has spent his life collecting treasures, but when he began collecting the town’s water behind a dam on his property, no-one could fight him.

Trying to raise money at the district fair, Annie’s family is busy selling her mum’s pies. Unfortunately this doesn’t go well, but Annie discovers a way to help the family finances. An obstacle and agility course is set up for dogs, and prize money is up for grabs. Annie knows Runt will ace the course, but there is only one problem. Runt will ignore her hand signals or commands if anyone else is watching. How will she get him to race? Luckily her big brother Max is keen to build a YouTube following, and has the perfect idea.

This 1st competition is where Annie first meets the man who will become her arch enemy. Fergus Fink is vain, lazy, rich and a vile villain in the dog agility world. No way is he going to let an eleven year old girl and a mongrel called Runt beat him!

Annie is soon far from home, competing with Runt in the biggest dog show in the world. Along the way she has met and made new friends, learnt much about her family members and their own dreams, and discovered what is truly important in her small world of Upson Downs.

What an amazing, wonderfully readable story! With tons of humour, a very relatable main character and not one but two villains to combat, RUNT is clever, fun and full of kindness.

It’s like reading a mixture of Roald Dahl stories all rolled into one – animals, lots of quirky characters to get to know, problems to solve and dreams revealed, all making RUNT a must for every child’s bookshelf.

Absolutely loved it!

Author – Craig Silvey

Illustrator – Sara Acton

Age – 8+

(2022, Allen & Unwin, Australia, Drought, Family, Money worries, Greed, Villains, Vanity, Pedigree, Dogs, Animals, Dog Show, Agility, Competition, Prize Money, Cheating, Family, YouTube, Grandparents, Dog lovers, Humour, Funny, Quirky, Love, Outback, Pets, Community, Small Town, Heroes, Kindness, Being Yourself)