Dalmartian: A Mars Rover's Story

Dalmartian is about a visitor from outer space coming to Stephen’s yard. This visitor looks an awful lot like a Dalmatian but doesn’t act like other dogs we know. Stephen and this visitor argue over sleeping arrangements, food, walking, and how dogs use the restroom. They agree over these things to keep the peace and maybe just maybe they can learn to live with each other.

What I LIked: When I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read this because I love dogs and this looked like a cute story about dogs. I like the included images and how the text drew your eyes across the page. I appreciated how the author put the text in color-contrasting areas so that it was easy to read even in the dark. I also appreciate the way the author included an image for each item that the Dalmartian disagreed with so we knew exactly what he was doing instead.

What left me wanting more: From the minute I started reading this book I felt that it was a bit confusing and the language used on some pages was written for an older audience than the intended 4-year-old. There were a few pages in the book where there was a lot of text and that text was dense for the intended younger age group.

Final Verdict: This is a book that children ages 7 and up would enjoy reading as they laugh at the silly things that the dog doesn’t want to do because of where it comes from. This is a fun book to read to children to show them how to come to an agreement with others when they do things differently than you or do things you don’t expect.