Pooch on the Loose

The After-School Kindness Crew #1

by Goldie Hawn, Lin Oliver, Breanna Chambers (Illustrator)

160 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Goldie Jean Hawn is an American Academy Award-winning actress, director and producer. She is best known for starring in popular film comedies of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Reviews

[Steff Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’re the kindness crew…and kindness is for everyone.

It’s always a weird experience for me to read a book meant for middle school aged children, find that I don’t really care for the book at all, but still actively recognize that it’s a good recommendation for the most part. For the right student, the right kid, this book is gonna be one they’ll deeply enjoy. Most likely, it’d work for kiddos who are at least somewhat invested in supporting shelter dogs.

The characters introduced in Pooch on the Lose, the first of The Kindness Crew series, feel somewhat generic the further in you get—each of the kids has a caricature-like interest, but it’s not a heavy focus outside of their preparation for the show-and-tell day. Two of the interests, that of drawing and finding facts pop up briefly later on. Outside of that, the biggest focus on the story is developing a plan to help stray dog, Barky, find a home. Everything here is extremely predictable, to the point that I think even most young readers will know exactly where the story will go with this.

The kids, despite being older, have a very unrealistic plan and even attempt to go through with it, only to be found out incredibly quickly. This plan was never going to work and, honestly, I’m kind of surprised that the fact-interested character, Mia, didn’t point that out more overtly. But they still try (and fail) only for everything to be resolved pretty perfectly at the end. The kids create a club together, with Tony drawing out member badges for each of them—featuring this adorable dog they helped—with River leading the planning stages.

The book has a good message, overall, and in many spaces does a decent job of supporting that message through its main characters. The kids are all generally believable, aside from Tony’s four-year-old little brother who, while reasonably embodying the chaotic energy that can sometimes come from a young child, is given dialogue that in no way matches his age (honestly, this is my biggest gripe with the book as a whole). I wasn’t blown away by any of this and the story felt very run of the mill for me, but I think it works for kids who a) haven’t read a story like this before and b) enjoy stories about friends coming together to help dogs. I also really loved the artwork. Illustrator Breanna Chambers is pretty phenomenal at what she does and manages to capture each of these characters beautifully.

So, yeah. Taken all together, this is a decent book that will be easily enjoyed by kids whose interests align. Given that it’s not the first or only of its kind, though, it’s not like you won’t find extremely similar books out in the world if you’re looking for them.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Tony, Mia, and River are all in Mr. Ortega's fourth grade class at Sycamore Elementary School in Los Angeles. When he has a "surprise us" day, River (whose real name is Walter, but who wants to be a star worthy of his new name) brings in sparkly shoes from his mother's clothing resale shop, Tony tries to bring in one of his drawings, which his younger brother ZoZo has covered in strawberry jam, and Mia brings in her snake. Things go badly wrong, the snake escapes, and the classroom is in turmoil. All three kids end up with Ms. Gold in her bungalow for a "brain break". They practice breathing, listen to soothing music, and are given Mindful Me journals. They become friends, and decide that they might want to help out at Dave's Doggy Day Care. ZoZo takes a liking to a dog named Sparky who is usually very loud, but calms down in ZoZo's presence. The kids hope that one of them can adopt the dog, even though all of their parents say no. The kids manage to collect $50, and try to pretend to be adults in order to adopt a dog. They are turned down, in part because "Barky" was already adopted. It turns out that Tony's Grandma Candy has decided that Barky would be a good addition to the family. The kids decide to become the After-School Kindness Crew after spending more time with Ms. Gold, and they even help Lyle Lemon, who has been mean to them for most of the book.
Strengths: I was unaware of Ms. Hawn's MindUp organization, which was far ahead of its time in promoting preventative mental health. This is clearly the beginning of a series, and I expect to see a lot of different coping strategies portrayed. Oliver, who wrote the Hank Zipzer books with Henry Winkler, knows her way around a series, and Pooch on the Loose sets the scene with richly developed back stories to our three characters and their school. Elementary school students will enjoy the adventures of these enthusiastic friends.
Weaknesses: While it's great that the After-School Kindness Crew has access to Ms. Gold and her brain break bungalow, I think there are very few schools who have enough time in their day to devote to something similar. Schools only have students for seven hours or less, and there are a lot of unfunded government mandates that need to be addressed during that time.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Sheinmel's The Kindness Club, Mills' Franklin School Kids, or Messner and Fajardo's The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class books.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new series for middle elementary grade readers, The Afterschool Kindness Crew connects 3 very different 4th graders on a hilarious Surprise Day at school and sets them on a path to making life better for those around them.

There is much to enjoy about this creation by actress/grandmother/author Goldie Hawn and well known Lin Oliver: 1) diverse trio of friends (Mia loves science, math and fact-finding, River is a flamboyant performer and Andy is a talented artist) 2) neighborhood setting with a feeling of community, 3) a more gentle “bad guy,” 4) positive relationships between parents & children and among siblings, and 5) great support for kids at school. But the pooch part of the book didn’t come up until just over halfway through the book and the lesson about taking brain breaks when things get stressful is illustrated by kids retreating to a Creation Station space that is available at any time to any students is unrealistic. In addition, the interactions with and about mean-spirited Lyle Lemon seemed to be trying too hard to get the point across that bullies often have their own hurts that cause them to act like a bully. Once River, Mia, and Andy set their newly formed club’s goal on finding a home for a hard to place pup, things came together much better and the book finished strong.

Libraries serving grades 2-4 who need novels with less than 200 pages, large font, plenty of white space and periodic sketches to augment text should consider this one, however, this novel series does read young and is unlikely to connect well with students older than 4th grade.

*Profanity: none
*Violence: some classroom destruction and chaos when a snake gets loose
*Sexual content: none
*Representation: Mia and River present as Caucasian, Andy and his family are likely Black; Andy lives in multi-generational household; variety of workplaces for parents included-work from home computer specialist, physician’s assistant, several small business owners, home candy-making business
*LBGTQ+: none

Thanks for an eARC, NetGalley and Penguin Workshop.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley.
This new series by Hawn and Oliver focuses on being kind and honoring each other's uniqueness. Readers meet three fourth graders who are struggling to belong. When they connect in Ms. Gold's brain break classroom, they discover how well they work together and how well each one of their interests balances with the others. When their neighbor offers some of the shelter's dogs for adoption, they want to help the one who seems stressed and won't stop barking. By the end, the dog has a home and the three friends have formed a kindness club to help where needed - even if they need to help the class bully.
The illustrations support the text and let readers delve deeper into the story.

[Savvy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It’s about three fourth graders who create a club to help a dog find a home. Together they eventually find a surprise solution. My favorite part was when the boy named River tried to disguise himself as an adult to pay for the dog. I also love that they focused on kindness with people and animals. This book was a very fun read and I’m hoping that there’s a book 2 coming out soon!

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley for the ARC

Note: This review was created by an 8-year-old.

[Kim Wilch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweet story delivers a heartwarming reminder that kindness does matter. The story follows a group of friends who start a club dedicated to spreading good in their community. In this first episode, they help a stray dog find the perfect home. Honestly, if you love a good dog rescue, it’s hard not to smile while reading. The message is thoughtful and the artwork is absolutely lovely—making it a feel-good pick for young readers.

[Kim Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.