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Pooch on the Loose (The After-School Kindness Crew #1)

Pooch on the Loose (The After-School Kindness Crew #1)

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Author(s)

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Breanna Chambers

Publisher

Penguin Workshop

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

May 05, 2026

ISBN

978-0593889459

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When classmates Tony, Mia, and River find themselves together in Ms. Gold's classroom, a friendship quickly forms and leads them to creating the After-School Kindness Crew. Join the trio as they bring joy to those around them, with laughs, adventures, and brain breaks along the way.

This first book in the series introduces the origins of the After-School Kindness Crew, starting with a Surprise Us Day in their fourth-grade class, which leads to more surprises than anyone expects! From an escaped snake to a rowdy dog let loose from his cage to disguises slipped on to save the day, the hijinks and humor continue from start to finish!

Read along to get to know the crew and learn how a sweet dog in need of adoption helps bring them all together.

Editor review

1 review

Spread the Joy!

June 02, 2026 (Updated: June 04, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Tony, Mia, and River are all in Mr. Ortega's fourth grade class at Sycamore Elementary School in Los Angeles. When he has a "surprise us" day, River (whose real name is Walter, but who wants to be a star worthy of his new name) brings in sparkly shoes from his mother's clothing resale shop, Tony tries to bring in one of his drawings, which his younger brother ZoZo has covered in strawberry jam, and Mia brings in her snake. Things go badly wrong, the snake escapes, and the classroom is in turmoil. All three kids end up with Ms. Gold in her bungalow for a "brain break". They practice breathing, listen to soothing music, and are given Mindful Me journals. They become friends, and decide that they might want to help out at Dave's Doggy Day Care. ZoZo takes a liking to a dog named Sparky who is usually very loud, but calms down in ZoZo's presence. The kids hope that one of them can adopt the dog, even though all of their parents say no. The kids manage to collect $50, and try to pretend to be adults in order to adopt a dog. They are turned down, in part because "Barky" was already adopted. It turns out that Tony's Grandma Candy has decided that Barky would be a good addition to the family. The kids decide to become the After-School Kindness Crew after spending more time with Ms. Gold, and they even help Lyle Lemon, who has been mean to them for most of the book.

Good Points

I was unaware of Ms. Hawn's MindUp organization, which was far ahead of its time in promoting preventative mental health. This is clearly the beginning of a series, and I expect to see a lot of different coping strategies portrayed. Oliver, who wrote the Hank Zipzer books with Henry Winkler, knows her way around a series, and Pooch on the Loose sets the scene with richly developed back stories to our three characters and their school. Elementary school students will enjoy the adventures of these enthusiastic friends.

While it's great that the After-School Kindness Crew has access to Ms. Gold and her brain break bungalow, I think there are very few schools who have enough time in their day to devote to something similar. Perhaps this book will encourage students to start such initiatives.

This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed the group dynamics in Sheinmel's The Kindness Club, Mills' Franklin School Kids, or Messner and Fajardo's The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class books.