Loved this book about a dog who finds her own path. One of my students created a great presentation from it.

So darn cute! My young students loved the pictures. They wanted me to read it more that once. We love dog stories too! And that name! One of my kiddos has a hamster named Lulu so we laughed about that. A sweet book. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the publisher and NG for my digital copy to review. I plan on buying one for the classroom. 5 stars!

Very Lulu was a fun and touching book with a sweet character trying to find where she fits in. I think many kids can relate to this story I loved the illustrations and the flow of the story. Enlightening.

I read this on my kindle and the pages didn’t seem to be in order. It made it difficult to follow the story line. What I can piece together is that LuLu was different from the other dogs in obedience school. The other dogs were able to do things on command, but LuLu could not obey. But even though she didn’t have great success at obedience school, she did have a loving family.

The story was short and simple. Who can’t relate to their dog not doing well in obedience school? We all have that story we tell about our naughty pets. Kids will enjoy LuLu’s antics.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Very Lulu: The (Mostly) True Story of a Training School Dropout is a hilarious dog that cannot seem to control her energy and passion. Lulu loves her love, and she loves her family. However, she just cannot seem to stay out of trouble.

In order to help try to teach Lulu how to obey and be calm, her owner enrolls her into training school at the Police Dog Academy. Lulu struggles start immediately. No matter how hard the officer and her owner try to train her, Lulu just cannot stop being.... Lulu.

As Lulu starts to figure out her obedience school instructions, her owner starts to notice that Lulu's happiness and joy seem to be gone. Her heart breaks as she yearns to have her old Lulu back. It doesn't take long for Lulu's handler to know that she made a mistake, and she knows exactly what she needs to do to fix it.

Children of all ages will enjoy watching Lulu up to her wild antics. They will celebrate with her joy at the end of this heartwarming tale. Lulu is a figure of all things individuality, and she will shine as she encourages her young readers to always be true to themselves.

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. This book is about Lulu a dog who is being trained as a police dog. It's is fun and kids will get a kick out of it.

Very Lulu is a delightful story about animals, pets and where they fit into the world. Lulu is a great sniffer, who has some behaviour issues. Her owner decides to enroll her in a Police Dog Academy. Lulu loves being there with the other dogs, but she does not enjoy the many tasks she is supposed to master. While the other dogs learn to sniff out clues, count, speak on command, and follow the instructor's commands, Lulu runs off to play and get into trouble. The instructor is sure that this is not the place for Lulu, but her owner convinces him to give Lulu another try. Lulu just wants to have fun leading the instructor to describe her as "Just Very Lulu". Her owner decides that Lulu's place is with a family who loves her just the way she is. The illustrations are wonderful. They are fun, colourful and highlight the expressions that Lulu is feeling. The message of being yourself is there with humour and lightheartedness. My grandson enjoyed this story. He laughed a lot and kept saying, "oh oh, Lulu is going to get in trouble". We talked about that and learning from mistakes, as well as loving each other even when we make mistakes and are a bit different. Not sure if he identified or not, but he enjoyed the story and Lulu.

An adorable story about a dog who just wants to be herself. Kids might get a kick out of the antics that Lulu gets up to while she is supposed to be training to be a police dog.

This is such a cute book! I was so excited to read this book to my daughter. Our neighbor has a dog named Lulu and my daughter is crazy about her. When I saw this dog was named Lulu, I knew we had to read it! It was perfect and she loved it. Our Lulu is very similar to Lulu in the book. She is very...Lulu! So glad someone wrote a book about those dogs that try so hard, but they don’t always get it right! There are lots of wonderful dogs that are very Lulu!

A very enjoyable book! Funny, yet provides a very meaningful opportunity to discuss the concept of being who you really are. Cute illustrations!

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved this book about Lulu! The pictures are so bright and colorful. The story is very relatable. And it shows a great relationship between people and their pets. It teaches kids an important lesson too; you don't have to be boxed into what people expect you to do. Do what makes you happy!

My proof of this came very early in this book's existence, so I have been told to wait for the background and the true story that inspired it. Even though, from what I found, I saw a book that was fun and enjoyable for the target audience, but also… a little slight. We see a police dog trainer try and try with a specific mutt called Lulu, who point blank refuses to obey commands and learn her trade. And that's it – there's no praise of the maverick spirit, no paean to individuality, just the fun of a sprightly narrative talking of a loveable rogue in canine form. I think the book needs the truth, then, as there's not enough here to make me think this is at all essential. It would never convert someone who doesn't like dogs, for one – meaning you're left empathising with the dog's humans, and that's about it. It reads well, with little text on each attractive page, but it's very… very light.

Lulu is such a beautiful story with the most perfect illustrations. I’d have like to have seen a little more about the failing and how Lulu hadn’t failed.
I do however, love the ending. It’s sweet and heart felt.

Very Lulu, wonderfully written by Stephanie Campisi, is the amusing account of a dog handler and a training officer at the Police Dog Academy... and, of course, Lulu. Because of her fantastic ability to sniff things out, Lulu winds up in a course for future K9 cops. The (Mostly) True Story of a Training School Dropout follows the Black Labrador’s experience at the Academy.

Alongside three other trainees, Lulu works on commands, sniffing, obstacle courses, and fetching evidence. Lulu is energetic, enthusiastic, a great sniffer, and tries her best. The other dogs in her class (a Rottweiler, a Beagle, and a German Shepherd/Alsatian) are star pup-ils.

(I couldn’t resist the pun.) When Lulu’s handler and her trainer recognize that Lulu is unhappy, what future is in store for her? The book is charmingly illustrated by Jessica Gibson, and I’d love to see more of her canine creations!


Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids (Jabberwocky) for the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest and unbiased. #NetGalley #VeryLulu

<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/5c78b3421c1782f67f7121ebe09522c49679d19b" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/> <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/02b77bafd9800d0f4fd07dd37204a9f4947c8b13" width="80" height="80" alt="10 Book Reviews" title="10 Book Reviews"/> <img src="http://www.librarything.com/pics/lter_small_yellow_border.gif" width="110" height="68" border="0" alt="LibraryThing Early Reviewers"> <a href="http://www.firsttoread.com"><img alt="First To Read" src="http://www.firsttoread.com/Images/F2R_member.jpg"></a>

(Edit: Specific breed names are not used in the book. I labeled the breeds based on how I saw them.)

Very Lulu The (Mostly) True Story of a Training School Dropout by Stephanie Campisi published by Sourcebook Kids is a delightful story about a dog who is exuberant and always sniffing out fun. One day her handler decides to take Lulu to police dog training. Lulu is too Lulu to be like the other dogs and her handler decides that she would be a better family member than police dog. This would be a fun book to read aloud. Not only is the message a great (be yourself) for all listeners it. also encourages movement and play during the story. If you like to include puppets in your storytime this would be a good book to use.

You gotta love Lulu with all her idiosyncratic mannerisms. This heartwarming story will make you smile as Lulu and her free - spirited ways are tried to be tamed by enrolling her in the Police Dog Academy which is an obedience school for dogs.

She definitely distances herself from the pack attending and not in a good way. While they sniff out clues, count, speak on command, and follow the instructor's orders, Lulu unleashes herself to run, play, and yes... unintentionally get into mischief. She just can't help herself. Life's a blast! It's in her very nature to be curious, fun-loving and free to follow her own impulsive instincts. She tries very hard to be like the other dogs but to no avail. Her handler's term for her behaviour is, "she's just very Lulu!

Both Lulu and her owner learn a very valuable lesson about exactly where Lulu fits into life. She belongs, not restrained by rules and regulations, but in a loving family who accepts her for who she is. Unconditional love reigns down on Lulu as she has the exact type of family that she needs. Lucky Lulu.

I love the illustrations. They are vibrant, colourful, animated and full of heart. I am sure kids will delight in this story and will learn that it is just fine to be uniquely yourself, in fact it's perfect.