“VOFF! VOFF! GRR-VOFF!

“Please Stella, stop barking!” her father says in a stern way.

Everyone gets up from the bed and looks. No strange dogs. No balls. Not even a small berry or a strand of beard.

But through the window, Stella sees the neighbour’s car going away.

“Do you hear car, get out of the yard!” Dad says, leading everyone back to bed.”

A father tries to put his child to bed, but keeps getting interrupted by Stella the dog, who starts barking hysterically. Something unexpected always happens, and the reader is treated to Stella’s lively imaginations: it may be a door opening or a car driving by, but Stella is strongly convinced it’s Grandma coming to give her food, or that squirrels have built a nest in the toaster.

Anyone who has ever tried to bring a child to bed knows how cozy yet fragile the situation is. It requires the right amount of patience and determination. The right bedtime story can be the key to a successful, quiet night.

There is a warm feeling, playful rhymes and an unusual mix of familiar ordinariness and fantastic antics. Clear recognition for anyone trying to combine cozy moments with a pet!

Stella is a book you can read again and again, night after night.