Reviewed by Dianne Carter for Readers' Favorite

Toto’s Tale by K. D. Hays is the adventure of Oz through Toto’s perspective. Toto has an adorable personality. He tells things in a way that only a dog could. Often he does not understand his human companions, giving us humorous translations such as: brains become trains, heart becomes cart and follow becomes swallow. We’ve always known Toto was with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, The Lion and The Tin Man, but we never knew what he was thinking and just how important his part was in the adventure. We now know what lengths he went to in protecting Dorothy. Like most dogs, Toto used his nose to identify things. Toto became a bit peeved when Dorothy spent too much time talking to a cat.

One of my favorite parts was where Toto refers to Dorothy as his pet girl. Those of us who are pet lovers could certainly relate...I am my dog’s pet woman. I think I watched the movie The Wizard of OZ thirty times. Each time I loved it more. I read most of the Oz books and loved them all. The story line follows closely to the books; however, we do get to meet a few new characters in the form of wolves and bees.

Kids will love this book. I think elementary teachers should share this book with this class. However, adults will also enjoy the antics of the tiny dog who thinks he is a giant. This feisty little dog will bring smiles and giggles to the most discriminating readers.