To celebrate International Literacy Day (Sept. 9), here at Bash And Lucy we’re sharing some of our book reviews by kids age 5 to 13. One of our goals is to inspire in young kids a love of books–especially dog books.

Our book review efforts were launched by book lover Michael, age 5, co-author of “Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence.” When we first started doing videos for our blog, he came up with the idea of doing reviews of other dog books for children (our book is a kids’ dog book). And so we launched our video reviews, inviting Michael’s friends age 5 to 13 to join in the fun.

Michael’s enthusiasm for reading has driven our efforts. Not a day goes by when he doesn’t say, “Why don’t we do a review of (then he names a book).” But it wasn’t hard to find other kids equally enthusiastic about reading. Michael’s favorite person to review books with is Mia, who is 13 and a student at an arts school in the Portland, Oregon area. She is pictured with Michael at the top of this blog and also right here:

Other reviewers–in videos past and planned–include Edward, a 7-year-old who helps review “Scooby-Doo and The Rock-N-Roll Zombie,” and Michael’s cousins, Marty, age 4, and Paula, age 8, who will appear soon in a review of “Clifford Goes to the Beach.” Our book reviews take place at the Oregon Zoo, on the Oregon Coast, in New York City’s Central Park, and other places!

Lisa, Michael’s mom and his co-author, is the interviewer for these book reviews on youtube. She follows the kids’ leads and any attempts to focus Michael or dress him properly generally fail! He developed a silly routine that he insists on following in almost every review. And his chosen “uniform” generally includes an inside-out striped t-shirt and two different colored socks.

Here are some of our book reviews by kids:

“Good Dog Carl,” by Michael and Mia:

“Bad Dog Bailey,” by Michael and Mia:

Scooby-Doo and The Rock N Roll Zombie, By Michael and Edward. We love it when young kids use terms like “mystery fiction!”

Dog Books Teach Vocabulary by Michael. While this isn’t exactly a book review, it says a lot about what kids learn when reading books that include a few words they don’t understand:

You can follow all Michael’s book reviews by following his youtube channel here: Michael’s Youtube Channel

If you have suggestions for books you’d like Michael and friends to review, please email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com. In the meantime, Michael and friends are working their way through the stack of books that children’s book authors have sent us to review!