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Emily and Patch
Ever since Emily's mum died, she's had trouble adjusting to her new life with her dad and step-mum. But when she joins the Harvest Hope project at City Farm, she makes new friends and meets a very special dog called Patch.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 18, 2014
Adorable and heart-warming story of a miserable girl and a mistreated collie from the City Farm series, aimed at the 7+ bracket.
I really enjoyed this sweet and gentle read about a little girl struggling with her emotions and the dog she befriends. This is not the first book in the City Farm series, but it is the first I’d read (it will not be the last!). The set-up at City Farm is that it’s a kind of rehabilitation centre for children with special needs, whether those are permanent difficulties dues to disabilities or learning difficulties, or temporary ones due to family or other personal problems (as in Emily’s case).
Emily is suffering due to family changes and has anger issues. I particularly liked the way her feelings were shown so clearly, along with her (slightly disordered) reasoning. It was so easy to sympathise with her, whilst at the same time clearly understanding how and why her assumptions were mistaken leading to unnecessarily negative feelings. And all of this emotional complexity is handled skilfully in an easy read for children – no mean feat! I also liked that the book shows a girl character struggling with anger, and implicitly makes it okay for girls to feel this way, while carefully exploring how to get off of the rut. There is real emotional intelligence behind this book.
The other characters in the book were also well-defined and likeable. It was great to see the interaction between Emily and the other children on the farm (presumably they also feature in other titles), and of course the central relationship between Emily and the poor little collie pup was beautifully portrayed and worthy of Dick King Smith.
I can’t help but comment on this book as a teacher as well as a reader and parent, and I can see such scope for this series within schools. This title (and I assume others) would make an excellent class reader for upper primary, with tons of scope for SEAL and PSHE activities as well as plenty of literacy work. I wouldn’t shy away from using it with a weak or unconfident year 7 class, either.
I would definitely recommend this novel, and by extension, the series, to readers over 7.
I really enjoyed this sweet and gentle read about a little girl struggling with her emotions and the dog she befriends. This is not the first book in the City Farm series, but it is the first I’d read (it will not be the last!). The set-up at City Farm is that it’s a kind of rehabilitation centre for children with special needs, whether those are permanent difficulties dues to disabilities or learning difficulties, or temporary ones due to family or other personal problems (as in Emily’s case).
Emily is suffering due to family changes and has anger issues. I particularly liked the way her feelings were shown so clearly, along with her (slightly disordered) reasoning. It was so easy to sympathise with her, whilst at the same time clearly understanding how and why her assumptions were mistaken leading to unnecessarily negative feelings. And all of this emotional complexity is handled skilfully in an easy read for children – no mean feat! I also liked that the book shows a girl character struggling with anger, and implicitly makes it okay for girls to feel this way, while carefully exploring how to get off of the rut. There is real emotional intelligence behind this book.
The other characters in the book were also well-defined and likeable. It was great to see the interaction between Emily and the other children on the farm (presumably they also feature in other titles), and of course the central relationship between Emily and the poor little collie pup was beautifully portrayed and worthy of Dick King Smith.
I can’t help but comment on this book as a teacher as well as a reader and parent, and I can see such scope for this series within schools. This title (and I assume others) would make an excellent class reader for upper primary, with tons of scope for SEAL and PSHE activities as well as plenty of literacy work. I wouldn’t shy away from using it with a weak or unconfident year 7 class, either.
I would definitely recommend this novel, and by extension, the series, to readers over 7.
November 5, 2019
I enjoyed this book a lot. Some of the parts of this book reminded me on my personal life. On to Zoe and Swift!! I am reading these books for homework. And I wouldn't mind reading them without doing homework. Im trying to say I really enjoyed Emily and Patch and think others would enjoy it to.
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June 2, 2019Interesting value
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews