In an unnamed Melbourne suburb, a Groodle named Gherkin ventures out in search of a birthday present for her best friend, Junket. In the tradition of Hairy Maclary, Gherkin catches up with a varied squad of neighbourhood dogs and learns that each of them is missing a belonging that has been recently replaced with something newer and shinier. When the rubbish truck arrives at the dog park with a CRUNCH! BANG! CRASH! Gherkin may have found the answer.

Having worked in the book industry for many years Mandy Wildsmith knows well what makes a book work; her debut picture book is an excellent read-aloud. Nancy Liu’s lovely, playful watercolour illustrations are perfectly pitched for a young audience. It’s a sweet and thoughtful book, but also very fun. The story gently cautions against replacing things unnecessarily, and I’m sure it will be a big hit with rubbish-truck fans and dog enthusiasts everywhere. For ages 3+.