Review - Gidget the Surfing Dog

Gidget the Surfing Dog: Catching Waves with a Small But Mighty Pug
by Elizabeth Rusch
Date: 2020
Publisher: Little Bigfoot
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Meet Gidget, a small but mighty pug who overcame a life-threatening illness to become a world-champion surfing dog. Her story is told with beautiful, eye-catching photography that features adorable canines on and in the water.

This is the inspiring true story of Gidget, a world-champion surfing pug, who grew from a hyperactive handful of a pup to a poised and impressive surfer whose efforts are devoted to charity.

As she and her owner Alecia find their way through challenges including a life-threatening illness, Gidget's story becomes not only about a dog learning to surf and compete in dog surfing competitions but also about making the most of the life you are given and giving back to your community.

Gidget the Surfing Dog is filled with fun and informative science sidebars that help kids understand how waves are formed, how to identify different types of waves, and other aspects of the science of surfing. The book also covers the problem of trash in the ocean--an issue that Gidget and Alecia work together to address.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

While the premise behind this is fine, I kind of wish the book had just stuck to talking about Gidget. Because it doesn't--and goes off on tangents about the physics of surfing, wave formation, and plastic pollution--the book is overly long, and there's a mismatch between the tone of the main narrative (which seems aimed at very young readers) and all the science stuff (which would bore very young readers). It took me a long time to get through this one, and I didn't really like the way the main story kept getting interrupted. Gidget has an interesting history. I liked reading about how and why she got into surfing. The illness that almost sidelined her added some drama to the narrative. But it was difficult to stay emotionally engaged when the book kept slipping into scientific explanations and illustrations.

I think the audience for this one might be limited. Kids may want to read about Gidget and her surfing... but I have a feeling a lot of them are going to skip over some of the more technical pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Bigfoot for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5