The Puppy Project: Millie and Stella Best Friends Forever
By Josephine Moon
Illustrated by Jedda Robaard
Reviewed by Helen Gearing
Josephine Moon’s second installment in the heartwarming Millie and Stella series continues exploring rich friendships, family relationships, and classroom dynamics in a story perfect for animal-lovers eight years and older.
This time, the focus moves from horses to puppies as the best friends step in to help continue Fergus’ training after his instructor is called away on a family emergency. Stella and Millie take their roles seriously, understanding that uninterrupted training is vital for a service-puppy-in-training to develop into a confident, capable assistance animal.
At first, the timing for their new responsibility seems perfect – the best friends can use their experiences working with Fergus as the basis of their free-choice, major school project, which is about to commence.
However, helping a puppy adjust to a classroom environment is harder than they imagined, and toileting disasters, overenthusiastic classmates, and added complexities arising from Fergus’ recent surgery soon have Millie and Stella both doubting their capability for the job. And when Fergus spectacularly disrupts their classmate’s mindfulness project, it looks as if Gwenyth, a girl in their class, will stop at nothing to ensure Millie and Stella’s puppy project also fails.
A lovely point of difference from many other animal stories is Millie and Stella developing an awareness that not everyone shares their wholehearted love for animals, and that expecting support without your peers’ buy-in is destined to cause friction.
Whimsical line-drawings by Jedda Robaard add to the story’s charm, as does the touching portrayal of two friends with very different personalities and neurotypes who genuinely look out for one another – no matter the circumstances.
With short chapters and plenty of white space, The Puppy Project is an accessible introduction to middle-grade fiction for readers ready for a step up from chapter books. And at a satisfying 217 pages (supported by very large font) it carries the weight and size of a ‘real novel’.
Josephine Moon’s second installment in the heartwarming Millie and Stella series continues exploring rich friendships, family relationships, and classroom dynamics in a story perfect for animal-lovers eight years and older.
