Overall, this was an interesting read. The author did a great job with character development. It was easy to relate to the characters. Weird fact, SO MANY parallels to the Covid pandemic even though the book was published just a few months before it began. Perhaps he really does have a time machine! A dystopia filled with love and laughter. Having read this I want to read everything else Ross Welford has written, and I would recommend it to any reader of middle-grade fiction. In my opinion, Mr Mash should have been accorded a bigger role in the story and the author should also have explained in more detail the scientific terms used in the book to facilitate better comprehension by the readers.

The Dog Who Saved the World – Author Ross Welford – Random The Dog Who Saved the World – Author Ross Welford – Random

I enjoyed this book and I will enjoy reading it to my grandson when he's older. It is fun, realistic and full of exciting imagery that allows you to see the problems of today in a futuristic way. This unusual group is trying to save the world from a viral disease identified as canine-borne Ebola (CBE) that is spreading through the United Kingdom and causing the death of hundreds of dogs due to a mistake by Georgina. The trio meet an eccentric and reclusive scientist and agree to take part in her virtual reality project. Georgie steps in front of a super computer, puts on a helment and is transported to a digital version of the real future. The time travelling element of the story is fun and frightening for the intrepid pair and is entertaining reading. Family life as perceived by children is explored and again gives the story its humour and poignancy.Georgie's love of animals and particularly dogs makes this story relatable to most children. The prospect of losing your doggy best friend, and dogs disappearing from the earth is a sobering thought. Not surprisingly the children are courageous and sometimes foolhardy to stop this horror becoming reality.

THE DOG WHO SAVED THE WORLD | Kirkus Reviews THE DOG WHO SAVED THE WORLD | Kirkus Reviews

Quite an exciting story, one you need to concentrate on as well, with adult characters that aren't just there as wallpaper. I can picture this as a film, it will be refreshing to see this type of genre aimed at a family market. The Dog Who Saved the World is an epic, well-written, and adventurous novel. This book is set in a world where a virus, known as the CBE (Canine-Born Ebola) starts to affect dogs, humans' best friends. I must admit, this is the first novel by Ross Welford that I’ve read. It won’t be the last. Actually, the reason this book caught my eye was the “dog” in the title. And this dog, Mr. Mash, is the epitome of dogly dogs. He smells awful from nose (his rank breath) to tail (the gas he emits is constant and horrifying in its ability to spew outward). But he is also the epitome of dogs because he loves everyone, especially main character Georgie. Reference Col 1 Times Books A-Z Astronomy Gardening National Parks National Trust Books Road Maps & Atlases World AtlasesI guess any technology can be both good and bad, which is hardly an original observation. From a writer’s point of view, I find one of the biggest challenges is mobile phones. Kids aged about eleven, which I write about, very often have their own phones and they could be used to get characters out of trouble far too easily! Other technology (like time machines, or 3-D VR) I can just make up and, because I’ve made it up, it’ll do exactly what I want it to. Mr. Mash gives a little whine. He doesn’t want to go through the doors, and I know exactly how he feels.

The Dog Who Saved the World Teaching Resources The Dog Who Saved the World Teaching Resources

If there’s one question that makes writers’ hearts sink, it is “Where do you get your ideas from?” That’s because the only honest answer is “I don’t know”. We come up with so many convoluted answers to that question, but they’re all just stories to avoid having to tell the truth, which would disappoint. Stephen King says that’s why writers like other writers’ company: because they never ask that question! The only thing I could add is that perhaps writers think more, and use their imagination more, because we have to: it’s our job. But an idea never arrives fully formed – at least it never has for me, sadly. Set in the near future Ross Welford’s ‘The Dog Who Saved the World’ takes us on a fast-paced journey into the world of virtual reality and time travel. I cried for a week, and Jessica kept saying she was sorry and trying to hug me with her bony arms, but I was furious. I still am sometimes. It could have been a very different story because three months before they won, the World Cup trophy was stolen. At the same time, Georgie and her friend, Ramzy, have become part of an experiment for sending people into the future via a virtual reality machine created by an eccentric recluse.The Dog Who Saved The World was not “inspired” by any particular event or thought (See “Where do you get your ideas from?” below). Instead it grew by lots of thinking. It was originally a story about a girl who gained the power of precognition, but it developed into something very different.