Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

You’ll fall in love with the McNiff family and their dedicated doggie. Lord Tennyson is a nanny of sorts, but as a dog, it can be a challenge. Summertime is a rough time to hold down the fort, but Lord Tennyson can handle it (almost). This would be a perfect fourth grade read aloud with all its humor.

Lord Tennyson is a schnauzer with an important job: to make sure the six McNiff children grow up respectable and kind and all the things they should be. It's a difficult task, but Tenny won't give up. He persists through tattling, snooping, sneaking, fighting, chore avoidance, and babysitters, and although he considers at times that he could relax and just be a dog, he knows that his children need him.

This book nearly got away with not making me cry, which is not something I expected from an Amy Makechnie book, but it's a dog book, and although it all ended well, no one who has loved a dog could walk away from this one without at least a little heart lurch. In many ways, this story is full of vivid and realistic moments, and as someone who has cared for children, I felt a lot of Tenny's helplessness as he tries to get the young ones to do the right thing only to watch them do the absolute wrong thing. It's rather episodic, and I admit to not absolutely loving every episode nor even every character. Yet maybe that's the point; family isn't just about loving each other when it's comfortable and easy. You'll notice I didn't give it five stars, and honestly that's because I found it hard to get into at first: there are a lot of characters and a lot of episodes that don't get into anything really significant, and it's a touch redundant. But I still enjoyed this book, and I'm excited to be getting a hard copy when it comes out in a few weeks.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a humorous read about an elderly miniature Schnauzer who is a nanny to six exuberant children and his mission to prove that he still has what it takes to keep them in line. Filled with hijinks and set during the summer holidays, this is a timely release that would appeal to readers looking for a light-hearted read. I would especially recommend it to younger readers who are strong readers and want a longer read without heavier content.