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‘DOGBIRD AND OTHER MIXED-UP TALES’ BY
PAUL STEWART AND TONY ROSS

Date: 2025-05-22
Author: Fiza Pathan
Format: Braille-Ready Text (BRF)
Website: fizapathansteachingportfolioforpgcite.com

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Title of the Book: Dogbird and Other
Mixed-Up Tales


Author: Paul Stewart


Illustrator: Tony Ross


Publisher: Corgi Pups


Publication Year: 2014


Pages: 185 pgs.


ISBN: 978-0-5525-5351-3


Age Group: PYP (Grades 3 rd & 4 th )


Genre: 21 st Century Contemporary Animal
Stories


IBDP & IGCSE Subjects Covered: English,
Wellbeing, Reading & UOI (Unit of
Inquiry)


Review Written By: Fiza Pathan


Introduction


The day shines not only when the sun
rises in the sky. The day also shines
when a PYP student reads a humorous,
feel-good book that makes the child
smile brightly like the sun. ‘Dogbird
and Other Mixed-Up Tales’ is one such
book by Multiple Award-winning British
children’s author Paul Stewart, the
famous creator of the international
bestselling Edge Chronicles Series,
which has sold over three million copies
and is available in over twenty
languages. The book is an omnibus, a
collection of three novels by Paul
Stewart: ' Dogbird’, ‘The Were-Pig’, and
‘The Watch-Frog’. All three books have
been illustrated by the internationally
famous and well-beloved illustrator Tony
Ross, who is renowned for having
illustrated some of the books of Roald
Dahl and his protégé David Walliams.
Tony Ross has also illustrated the
famous Horrid Henry Series penned by
Francesca Simon, which has sold over
twelve million copies and is also an
animated CITV series.


The omnibus is highly humorous with the
right touch of magic and a bit of
indirect moral education that can go
down very well with younger readers,
especially in grades three and four. The
novels are suspenseful yet hilarious,
full of subtle humour, illustrated well,
and meticulously crafted to hit the
right comical and, at times, sentimental
notes with the younger reader. The
humour is clean, polished, and full of
old-world charm that induces the younger
generation to seek to play in the
outdoors more than just gaming indoors
or watching Netflix all day long.


Paul Stewart has crafted his stories
well, and Tony Ross has yet again done a
marvellous job using the distinctive
Roald Dahl style in his caricatures and
illustrations. Thus, this gives the
three novels a comical and fun-filled
air, inducing the younger reader in the
PYP section to pick the omnibus easily
from the shelf. All three books are
based on the lives of animals directly
or indirectly, and all were published
between 1998 and 2003. This was when the
maximum number of clean, humourous
children’s books were being published
and illustrated using the characteristic
Roald Dahl style to give the books in
question a feel-good and fun setting. An
element of fantasy was created only in
the latter two books, namely ‘The
Were-Pig’ and ‘The Watch Frog’.
‘Dogbird’ is the only realistic book
that chronicles the story of a budgie
who did not speak at all, twitter, or
sing but instead barked like a dog
continuously for hours together.


All the novels are set in Great Britain
and are perfect for the Summer or Diwali
holidays. The following book analysis of
Paul Stewart’s omnibus collectively
titled ‘Dogbird and Other Mixed-Up
Tales’ is an analysis of the three
novels penned by Paul Stewart: ‘Dogbird’
(1998), ‘The Were-Pig’ (2002) and ‘The
Watch-Frog’ (2003).


Synopsis


Dogbird:


In the novel ‘Dogbird’ published in
1998, we are introduced to a bird that
was one of the most favourite and sought
after-winged pets of the 1990s, the
budgie. The marvellous aspect of the
budgie was that it looked colourful and
cute, was soft and had a melodious
singing voice, was highly active and
entertaining, could speak if taught
well, and could cultivate a broad
vocabulary. The original budgie was
always greenish-yellow in colour.
However, other coloured variety budgies
started to be bred in controlled
laboratory environments, especially for
their use in the pet trade in the 1990s.
The budgie Dogbird is bluish-white with
a bit of yellow that the pet store owner
promised would talk if taught well or
spoken to.


Unfortunately, what the cunning pet
store owner did not inform little Alice
and her parents was that the budgie only
seemed to know how to utter one kind of
sound: a loud ferocious bark or a series
of loud ferocious barks repeatedly for
hours together. This would be so
authentic that other nearby dogs would
start barking loudly and repeatedly
along with the budgie. The budgie seemed
clueless about what he was doing or
saying (or barking) and was at a loss to
know why the three black labradors of
little Alice’s home were so fond of
playing with him and getting him
forcefully out of his cage.


Alice, on the other hand, and her
parents were being tortured every day
because of Dogbird and his continuous
loud barking. They were losing sleep
over it and their peace of mind. But
they were a loving and decent family and
had taken to Dogbird and treated him as
part of the family. However, the
situation was getting out of hand. Now,
the dogs of the vicinity near and far
and in the neighbourhood were also
barking loudly, repeatedly, and
excitedly to Dogbird’s incessant barks.
The neighbours and Alice’s family also
lost sleep over Dogbird and complained
to Alice’s father about getting rid of
the budgie or somehow stopping his
incessant barking.


When all seemed impossible to solve, one
day Alice decided to release Dogbird
into the wild because she could not bear
to see him caged up, away from his
rightful home and perpetually in danger
of being mauled or killed by her
ferocious and overexcited three black
labradors. Whether her ‘change of heart’
was due partly due to the fact that
Dogbird was a menace at their home is
not dwelt upon by Paul Stewart, but it
seems so as is depicted in the
conversations shared between Alice and
her best friend, Katie. However, the
catalyst was when Dogbird got out of his
cage one day when Alice’s parents were
out, and the three dogs started chasing
and wounding Dogbird in the bargain.


Alice then set Dogbird free, but soon
enough, because of his strange barking,
the other birds of the air did not
accept him and started pecking him to
death. His wing started to bleed, and he
tried flying hither and thither to save
himself. Alice took matters into her own
hands and managed to save poor outcast
Dogbird by locking him back in his cage.
It was ultimately decided that the best
place for Dogbrid would be with Alice’s
grandmother as her pet because she had
been recently burgled, and burglars in
her area were not afraid to rob a house
where there were no dogs. It was Alice
and Katie who, after Alice’s
grandmother’s burglary incident, thought
of allowing Dogbird to stay with her.
Once this happened, Dogbird and Alice’s
grandmother were much happier, and she
was very loving towards the budgie, who
kept the robbers away from her home and
also kept her company. The budgie,
therefore, at last found his forever
home.


The Were-Pig:


In ‘The Were-Pig’, the otherwise tame
and calm Albert, a favourite of his
maternal grandmother, stole a Mars Bar
from his classmate’s tiffin or lunchbox
at school one day. He took the Mars Bar
outside the school to the grounds in the
heat of the shining sun and gobbled down
the Mars Bar. When he confessed this to
his maternal grandmother, she was
shocked and disappointed with Albert and
then informed him about something
mysterious. On repeatedly asking little
Albert whether he ate the bar in the
glare of the shining sun and when he
confessed that he had done precisely
that, his maternal grandmother informed
Albert that from henceforth, he would be
turned into a Were-Pig.


According to the maternal grandmother, a
Were-Pig was a half-pig and half-human
creature similar to a werewolf, a
half-wolf and half-human creature.
However, where a werewolf only turned
into his mysterious form at night when
the full moon was seen in the sky,
Albert would be turned into a were-pig
whenever the sun shone brightly in the
sky. Albert found the whole idea scary
and odious because his maternal
grandmother had never been known to lie
to him. And she was proved right the
next day because immediately when poor
Albert saw the sun shining extremely
brightly after a long spell of rain, he
turned into a plus-size but miniature
were-pig. And the moment he was
transformed, he grew extremely or
ravenously hungry.


He went to the school cafeteria and the
cafeteria’s kitchen, where he greedily
gobbled down all the food he found. He
managed to do so on the sly because of
his small size, but soon, the other
cooks found out about his actions,
especially when he accidentally dropped
a vessel of heated custard. He tried
fleeing from their grasp but was blinded
by the slop bucket being attached to his
head. He ran away from the scene of the
crime with the slop bucket still stuck
to his head when he appeared before his
homeroom teacher. She immediately
recognized him because of his clothes
and got the bucket off his head. When
his face was revealed, he was again
turned into a normal boy and was not
caught by the cooks because they were
after a giant pig.


He then vowed to his maternal
grandmother that he would never be
greedy for food again. He wondered why
he was turned back into a normal boy
when he noticed an unknown student
flicking his Mars Bar from his lunch
box. On hearing this news, the maternal
grandmother informed him that it was
because of the robbery of his own Mars
Bar by someone else that he had turned
back into a little boy and that the
curse of the were-pig was now upon
someone else in his school. Albert
nevertheless vowed that he would not
ever be greedy to rob someone’s food
again, and the maternal grandmother
seemed unusually pleased with this vow,
which made Albert wonder who was behind
the magical and crazy happenings of that
school day.


The Watch Frog:


In the novel ‘The Watch-Frog,’ a little
girl named Looby has her bedroom in the
back of a tall but cozy house in London.
She had been given that room in the
house as it was the quietest place in
the home, and it remained quiet till one
day, a frog appeared in the garden pond
outside Looby’s bedroom window. This
frog habitually croaked from 4:00 am,
disturbing Looby’s sleep midway or too
early. Looby started losing sleep
literally and metaphorically over this
noisy frog, and dark circles started
appearing below her eyes along with
terrible bags.


Looby’s grandfather was the one to
notice the change in Looby’s
sleep-deprived appearance and asked her
what the matter was, to which Looby
indicated the problem she was having
with the frog. When her grandfather
heard about the frog, he mysteriously
suggested to her that the frog was
probably a frog prince, like in the
famous fairy story ‘The Frog Prince’
taken from the Grimm Fairy Tales. He
hinted that Looby should probably try
kissing the frog to get a different
reaction. When Looby heard what her
grandfather said, she almost gagged and
vowed to do anything but kiss the frog
living in the little pond outside her
bedroom.


She tried many ways to avoid the
irritating and noisy frog non-violently,
even taking him to a faraway pool with
her mother in tow and releasing him
there to live peacefully and comfortably
away from her bedroom. However, the frog
always managed to find his way back. One
day, the neighbour’s ginger-coloured
tomcat, Pugsy, partially swallowed the
frog. It was then that Looby felt so
terrible for the frog that she saved him
from the clutches of Pugsy. The Frog was
wounded and lying unconscious beside
Looby, which broke her heart. Looby
petted and kissed him gently to revive
him, after which the Frog returned to
consciousness and started conversing in
English.


However, he did not turn into a handsome
prince as Looby’s grandfather thought
would happen if his granddaughter kissed
the frog. Instead, this frog retold the
story of his recent adventure to a very
curious and patient Looby. He informed
her that he was an ordinary 12-year-old
pre-teen boy. A week ago, he was
spending his summer vacation at his
seaside adventure camp while his parents
were off trekking in the Amazon
rainforest, which they did every year.
Diving off the coast the previous
Sunday, he bumped into a hideous-looking
waterwitch who turned him into a frog.
She said he would never return to normal
unless he did something good for another
person without expecting anything. Since
then, he found himself in Looby’s
backyard or garden pond and had been
croaking away, thinking that he probably
had to do something good for her to turn
back into a 12-year-old boy and return
to his family before the summer vacation
ended or his family would get worried
about him. The summer vacation that year
was going to end in 8 days, and before
that, he was keen on turning back into a
12-year-old boy.


On hearing his intriguing story, Looby
was keen on helping him out as long as
he stopped his incessant croaking and
roomed with her in her bedroom away from
Pugsy the tomcat, who had evil
intentions for the frog. She made a
special aquarium for him that very day
and placed him in it. She accidentally
fell asleep due to many days of sleep
deprivation, and after she awakened, she
turned to check whether the aquarium or
frog tank was still there or whether she
had dreamt of the whole episode. The
tank was still there with the frog in
it, but he had stopped both croaking and
talking. Instead, he stared at her
quietly and intently whenever she tried
to converse with him. Soon, she started
questioning her sanity as she returned
to a normal state, especially her sleep
schedule.


One night at around 12:40 am, the frog
woke the sleeping Looby up by croaking
desperately as he used to. Looby was
shocked to hear him croaking in this
manner but then realized the reason for
the same. Gas had been leaked in her
home because of a faulty bathroom geyser
that her father had worked on without
the help of a professional. This led to
severe and dangerous gas leakage, which
could have blown up the house or could
have set the house on fire. The
authorities arrived on time to save the
family from the crisis successfully,
along with reprimanding Looby’s father
for trying to fix the geyser on his own
as a ‘do-it-yourself’ project because
gas was never to be tampered so
carelessly with. While all this was
happening, Looby realized the frog had
saved her family’s life. She headed
straight back to her bedroom when she
found the frog missing from his tank.
Instead, she saw giant webbed
footprints, part of a young pre-teen’s
scuba diving outfit, walking out of her
bedroom, down her stairs, then out of
her house, and getting lost in the
garden and further from her home. She
realized, therefore, that because of his
good deed, the frog had been
successfully turned into a pre-teen boy
again and had started his journey back
to his parents home before that year’s
summer vacation could end or before they
returned from trekking in the Amazon.


Analysis


Dogbird:


As stated earlier, all the stories were
cleanly humorous and also indicated an
indirect moral at the end of the story.
None of the novels could better define
this statement than the novel ‘Dogbird’.
Though Dogbird was accepted in the home
of Alice and her parents, he found his
forever home in her grandmother’s house
because her grandmother would accept
Dogbird for who he was and because he
was helpful to her as an indirect
protector.


However, there is another implicit
aspect that we, as IB or IGCSE teachers,
can also identify with while reading
about the grandmother’s relationship
with the budgie. Notice that when the
budgie lived with Alice and her family,
he would only bark or growl incessantly
and viciously like a dog. However, the
moment he started living with Alice’s
grandmother, he barked only when he
needed to do so to protect her. Instead,
he began speaking to the grandmother,
occasionally using words and phrases he
picked up from her. This indicates that
her acceptance of his uniqueness and her
putting him at ease brought out the
budgie tendencies hidden within him all
the time, apart from his unique but
annoying characteristic. If Alice and
her family had probably been more
affectionate and accepting of the budgie
while he was with them, he would have
stopped barking incessantly. Notice that
even when Alice’s family named the
budgie, they called him tauntingly by
the rather rude name of Dogbird. In
contrast, the grandmother gave him the
decent and endearing name of Bluey,
giving him the respect that a new family
member was due.


Another factor worth pondering is the
sudden rush to get the budgie free into
the wild after the three labradors
attacked Dogbird. It is evident that
Alice’s family did not want the bird,
and Alice knew it was also becoming a
nuisance in the neighborhood. She wanted
a budgie in the house to speak and sing
to her human words, not to talk only
barking sounds that dogs could
understand. Therefore, all these factors
were put into play and set off by the
catalyst of the budgie being attacked by
the three black labradors that induced
Alice and even Katie to set Dogbrid free
into the wild. That is a highly grey
characteristic we see in Alice and Katie
per se. Still, the fact that she saved
the budgie from imminent doom
immediately when his kind did not accept
him negated that the bird's release was
maliciously done to get rid of him.


This particular story contained within
this omnibus titled ‘Dogbird and Other
Mixed-Up Tales’ by Paul Stewart is the
only one that is realistic and does not
contain a fantasy element. This made the
novel seem more believable than the
other two and more relatable because the
issues faced by all the characters and
their reactions to the same were
probably how most human beings would
react in such an extraordinary
circumstance. The grandmother’s response
to Dogbird was, however, very touching,
making the young PYP reader realize that
the grandmother was one of those
individuals who lived an ordinary life
in an extraordinary manner with
compassion and lots of love.


Coming to the bird itself, the budgie,
as I have mentioned before, is the
classic 1990s pet bird (also known as a
parakeet, especially in the USA) that
one would, as the decade progressed, see
in every other kid’s birdcage at home or
in their private garden. They were bred
in various colours to be housed as pets
as they were amiable, had a vast
vocabulary, were not as vicious or moody
as parrots, were great singers, could be
easily trained if adopted when young,
and because of hobby breeders keeping
them in custody for decades together,
they had acquired the tendency to live
much longer than other pet birds.


Dogbird was a blue-white and yellow male
budgie or parakeet, which is not the
ordinary colour of this bird species
found originally in the wild. Only
green-yellow budgies are found in the
wild; the colour mutation breeding was
done to sell these colourful and
cute-looking birds as pets. That was yet
another reason why when Dogbird was let
out into the wild, the other birds were
unwilling to accept him because he did
not look like a regular budgie or
parakeet of the wild. He looked like an
alien, and usually, birds are not so
tolerant of aliens. They prefer to
eliminate such a creature rather than
risk being hurt by them. That probably
accounts for the wild birds’ unruly
behavior towards Dogbird in the novel.


The Were-Pig:


There were more direct explicit images
in this novel titled ‘The Were-Pig’ than
implicit ones. This is because the novel
was directly related to the theme of
fantasy rather than based on a real
animal’s story. In ‘The Were-Pig’, we
see a little wild side to the author
Paul Stewart, where he hints directly
that Albert's maternal grandmother was
probably a witch who delved into magic.
That is perhaps why she was considered a
strange one in her family and an added
reason why Albert’s mother was a single
parent fending for herself and her only
son. We see the inclusion of
single-parent children in his novel ‘The
Were-Pig’ and the difficulties they go
through when they are misunderstood. Yet
despite so many positive and intriguing
aspects to this particular novel, which
incorporates very well the inclusiveness
reserved for a perfect IB and IGCSE
education, the novel is lacking in a
proper plot, suspense and Albert seems
like a weak character at the end of the
novel compared to his astounding
maternal grandmother and brave single
parent mother whom we as readers wished
we saw more of in this novel. It would
have probably added some direction to an
otherwise weak plot.


We are told the bare minimum about these
two independent and unconventional
women, just that Albert’s mother had
divorced her husband recently, was a
working single mother, and left home at
7:00 am and returned home around 12
hours later. She, therefore, needed the
assistance of her mother, Nan Tucker,
who was an unconventional grandmother
who did not look the part at all,
especially with her slim and trim
figure, her bright brown hair, her green
eyes, plaited long and colourful skirts,
beads in her hair and her penchant for
playing the guitar, telling amazing
stories, allowing Albert the free will
to pick strange things up from the road,
etc. We, as readers, hoped to see more
of these two daring women in the novel,
but the novel drifted toward Albert's
school life, which did not attract as
much attention because of Albert's
underdevelopment as a character.


Albert’s mother was not even given a
name, which is surprising when such a
meaningful, inclusive element had been
introduced by the author Paul Stewart in
the form of a single parent; why
introduce such an eye-catching and
inclusive element to the story and then
neglect to name the intriguing
character? As mentioned before in the
analysis, the book was published in the
year 2002, when such themes were not
common in the juvenile fiction of the
day, but if anyone took the trouble to
normalize this situation, they would
have at least the decency of giving a
name to the mother or a proper
description of her profession! It is the
least the author can do to give dignity
to his character. Nevertheless, this was
a start in the genre that would develop
significantly over a remarkable decade
of inclusivity in children’s literature,
which would blossom into the courageous,
bold, and stunning new genre of juvenile
literature post-2014. In 2025, when this
review is being typed, the symbol of the
single-parent mother is highly glorified
rather than hidden in the background of
a story, novel, or even a bestselling
series.


As mentioned earlier, the plot is weak,
and the theme of the were-pig intrigues
the reader, but the insatiable appetite
of Albert when he turns into a were-pig
is not pleasing or intriguing to the eye
to witness. One tends to gawk at the
food-devouring were-pig waiting for some
real action to take place, which never
does happen. Nevertheless, it was a
feel-good read, though not as humourous
as ‘Dogbird’ and ‘The Watch-Frog’. A
sight for sore eyes is to see the female
homeroom teacher of Albert’s being
inclusively represented as a
Black-British woman and thankfully not
painted according to the caricature of a
damsel in distress, which was the
epitome of what most of the juvenile
books of the 1980s and 1990s were all
about. This kind of inclusivity is in
keeping with the English curriculum of
an IB or IGCSE student and can be
analyzed and critiqued by the PYP 3rd or
4th-grade student in their UOI or Unit
of Inquiry class.


The homeroom teacher is depicted here as
a villain who tends to pick on Albert
whenever he is caught off guard. Her
name was Mrs. Wilkinson, and this is a
daring and unique feature of this novel
titled ‘The Were-Pig’. The notion of
being free enough to depict
Black-British or Black-American
characters as villains or negative
characters boldly only managed to strike
a permanent ground in 2015 without
unduly harming the sentiments related to
that particular community in the field
of literature. It was fascinating to see
Mrs. Wilkinson pulling the slop bucket
off Albert’s little head and trying to
visualize that portion. It can bring a
bit of a chuckle in any young reader,
considering the otherwise nondescript
Albert trying to get into trouble by
getting himself uselessly stuck in a
bucket of slop and potato peels!


There is an indication that the story's
ending was partly due to some magic
hidden up the sleeve of Nan Tucker, as
is evident from the mysterious
disappearance of the Mars Bar from
Albert’s tiffin box or lunch box. This
similar element is also seen in the
third novel titled ‘The Watch-Frog’,
where it seems like Looby’s grandfather
had something up his sleeve when he
dropped a hint to Looby to try and steal
a kiss from the annoying frog in her
backyard. Where the former story was
concerned, however, the Grandmother gave
a direct indication that she could have
been responsible for the strange
happenings in Albert’s day at school,
while the latter, Looby’s grandfather,
does not make an appearance after the
12-year-old boy cum frog leaves her
residence to return to his parents.


The Watch-Frog:


In ‘The Watch-Frog’, a novel published
by Paul Stewart in 2003, a year soon
after ‘The Were-Pig', one sees that Paul
Stewart tries to redeem his glaring plot
holes or lack thereof in the story of
friendship between two very different
people: a frog who is out to return to
his human absentee parents and Looby, or
A.K.A. Louise Mitchell, who wants to
regain her beauty sleep by wishing a
frog in her pond to grow silent for a
change!


These two very different people are not
out to romance each other but to help
each other out so as not to make the
12-year-old boy’s absentee parents
worried about his absence from the
seaside adventure camp and their home.
The themes or virtues implied are
compassion, mercy, helpfulness, and
gratefulness or being thankful. All
these virtues are part of the PYP IB or
International Board student’s overall
incorporated 12 Attitudes to foster some
fundamental IB values, beliefs, and
feelings in the concerned student. They
would fall into the categories of:


1. Appreciation


2. Commitment


3. Empathy


4. Integrity and


5. Respect


Though the two children show exemplary
compassion, commitment, and gratitude
for their service to each other, we see
some negative aspects in their fellow
adults. The 12-year-old boy’s parents
are intellectual adventurists who prefer
leaving to go off trekking to the Amazon
rain forest for a whole month without
even seeing their son, who would be sent
off to a seaside adventure camp till
they would arrive back. It is evident
from the sub-plot of the story that the
boy’s absence from the camp would only
be reported to the absentee parents
another 8 days after the boy’s
mysterious disappearance. Yet, in his
distress, the ever-faithful son is not
concerned about his predicament as he
recounts his ordeal to Looby. Instead,
he wishes to return to his normal form
to return to his parent’s home before
the summer vacation ends, as they would
be worried upon returning to England and
hearing that their son has been missing
for the past 16 or more days! The boy's
respect and admiration for his parents
and their job is evident from his reason
for returning to them.


However, the absentee parents seem too
irresponsible in this instance. The
story is set in 2002 when mobile phones
and other forms of telecommunication
were readily available and affordable
enough to Westerners. The 12-year-old
boy’s parents were probably research
scientists, and it would be necessary
for them to carry several forms of
telecommunication with them while on
their trekking. Yet, they felt it
impossible to contact their only son
during this long absence. This sounds
too neglectful on their part rather than
making us as readers sympathize with
them, saying that they were busy
individuals with no time other than
their personal affairs.


Also, Looby's mother and father were
quite careless individuals, with Looby’s
mother being unsure about how to conduct
herself with her daughter concerning the
sleep issue or the presence of the
perpetually croaking frog. Even Looby’s
father showed his absolute carelessness
and disregard for his family’s safety
when he tried to fix the geyser on his
own, causing a terrible gas leak that
could have taken their lives if the frog
had not alerted Looby on time.
Therefore, this novel shows several
cases of careless parents who seem
disinterested in their family’s or
children’s wellbeing. Even Looby’s dark
circles and bags don’t startle her
parents enough to take it upon
themselves to get rid of the frog for
the sake of their little girl. This was
startling yet somewhat relatable
compared to the exaggerated parenting
style of the Wormwoods starring in Roald
Dahl’s international bestselling and
perennial favourite novel ‘Matilda’. To
read up on my book review of the novel
‘Matilda’ check it out on my bookish and
literary blog insaneowl.com .


The Wormwoods were absolute disasters as
parents for little Matilda. In contrast,
many things were redeemable about
Looby’s parents, especially their
concern for her welfare and sleep
deprivation. This can be seen in the
fact that where the former was
concerned, they made her have the
tallest and quietest bedroom in the
house to rest in, while where the latter
was concerned, they constantly inquired
after her health and sleep, or lack
thereof.


Conclusion


Thus, Paul Stewart’s three books in this
omnibus titled ‘Dogbird and Other
Mixed-Up Tales' were entertaining, an
excellent tool for value education or
what we call in an IGCSE or IB school as
the subject Wellbeing, a light read, and
an extremely well-illustrated one
indeed. Tony Ross, the illustrator, has
worked well with Paul Stewart to create
memorable illustrations and caricatures
for this omnibus that can easily make
the younger PYP reader laugh out loud
and yet learn some excellent IB
Fundamentally Positive Attitudes along
the way as prescribed by the IBO. I’ve
noticed that when Tony Ross gets along
well with his author colleague, the
project they mutually work on turns out
very well. Paul Stewart seems like an
expert in moralistic subtle humour for
juvenile readers. It would seem like,
unlike Roald Dahl, he tends to move
towards the absurd and even the
sentimental, something similar to the
plots of David Walliams, the protégé of
Roald Dahl or, as most initial fans of
Walliams call him, the true heir to
Roald Dahl fame. I hope to read and
review more books illustrated by Tony
Ross in the near future.


I look forward to reading, reviewing,
and analyzing more PYP or Primary Years
Programme-related books in the fiction
and non-fiction categories in light of
the International Baccalaureate.


Special Note


If you are interested in more book
reviews, indie author interviews, book
analyses, short story analyses, poems,
essays, essay analyses, and other
bookish content, check out my blog,
insaneowl.com . If you are interested in
purchasing my books, you can check the
products page on Amazon . There is a lot
of good stuff to buy! Happy reading to
you always!


©2025 Fiza Pathan


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Copyright 2026 Fiza Pathan. All Rights Reserved.