The Pupstars by Yvette Poshoglian

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Illus. by Phil Judd. Puppy Diary book 3. Scholastic 2020. ISBN: 9781760662950.
(Age: 6 -8 years). In The Pupstars, Book 3 in the Puppy Diary series by Yvette Poshoglian, Archie and his friends are involved in the filming of a commercial at doggy daycare. The star is the world famous Dion the Bichon Frise who according to Archie is the biggest pupstar in the world.
At doggy daycare the puparazzi is hanging around trying to catch a glimpse of Dion but only see Archie of whom they are not very complimentary which offends Archie. Daycare is in turmoil and the playground has become a television wonderland and all of Archie's friends have been primped and cleaned to look very smart for their upcoming screen tests. Of course Archie has no idea of how to do a screen test but his forever wiggling tail is an instant hit with the camera crew.
Dion the pup-professional star is not quite how he seems on television and certainly suffers from a clear case of being spoilt. He is dismissive of the other pups and once again Archie is told how scruffy he looks and is to be put in the background of the shoot. The shoot does not go according to plan through a series of pup made mishaps and Dion sulks in his trailer. This is Archie's chance to be the star. However there is more mayhem in the daycare centre and Archie's friends come to the rescue.
When the opening diary entry begins with "You are never going to believe what happened to me today!" this perfect sizzling starts draws the young emerging reader in. The clever use of cartoon like images by Phil Judd to visually enhance the text gives the reader an extra opportunity to understand and follow the story. The author has imaginatively used puppy type language such as pawsitively, un-pup-ular, pupmergency, pawful to further engage the reader.
This is a fun easy to read book which will keep younger readers entertained and looking for other books in the series. Themes: Puppies, Diary entries, Movie Stars, TV Commercials, Friends, Doggy Daycare, Young Readers.
Kathryn Beilby