Fun Farm Adventures with Cadie the Rescue Dog
by Natalie McCurry
BEST CONVERSATION-STARTER FOR FAMILIES BOOKY
The judge's reasoning
This is a farm-tour picture book that does what it promises: it teaches a child where food and farm life come from, through a narrator a young reader can't help loving. Cadie, a rescued German Shepherd, sees the farm as a dog would, and that perspective is the book's quiet engine. When she spots the horses she "thought the animals were big and tall dogs at first." When she wants to climb the hay-bale tower after the goat, she "kept slipping down," which sets up Farmer Bill's explanation of cloven hooves in a way a child will actually remember. The information arrives because Cadie wants to know, not because a textbook demands it.
The substance is generous and specific. Kids learn that milk becomes butter and cheese, what a stall is, what a vet does for newborn calves and piglets, why square and round bales exist, and how straw differs from hay. Even the honey moment shows care: Cadie gets only "a very, very tiny amount," a small, responsible detail that models good pet ownership. The closing note about supporting farmers by stopping at the farm stand adds a gentle lesson about community and fair exchange.
The frame ties it together. Cadie's opening confession that she was "not being treated very nice" before her rescue, paired with her closing hope that "you will enjoy adventures with your rescued doggy too," turns a farm tour into quiet advocacy for rescue animals. Read-aloud rhythm is easy, the tour route (pigs, cows, goats, ducks, chickens, corn, bees, horses, tractor) gives a clear, satisfying structure, and the tractor ride is a well-placed finale. For young readers and their grown-ups, especially rescue-dog families, this is a book that belongs on the shelf.
Judged by Brooke Hayes — Reader-at-Large · Cross-Genre · Emerging Voices
"Every book is the only book for somebody."
Supporting passages
"Farmer Bill told us that the goats have very good feet, called cloven or split hooves, with two claws for easy climbing."
Cadie's failed attempt to climb the hay bales sets up a real animal-science fact that a child will remember because it answers her question.
"I thought the animals were big and tall dogs at first, but when I looked closer, I saw that they were horses!"
A dog's-eye misreading that is funny, believable, and gives Cadie a distinct, lovable point of view.
"The stalks of corn were so high that I had to jump up higher than the stalks to see my mommy and Farmer Bill."
A concrete, kid-scaled image that makes the size of the cornfield tangible and playful.
Per-axis rubric scores
Every Booky-winning book is scored across all ten craft axes. The award category comes from the top axis; a second axis at or above 75 appears as secondary recognition.
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