Seattle Pup Kids: Book Review! "Bryce Bumps His Head"
Bryce Bumps His Head by Robert D. Calkins (Callout Press, 2017)
Reviewed by Oliver (age 10)
I really enjoyed Bryce Bumps His Head because it has a lot of action. I also like the characters because I could relate to them in my life. In addition, the mountain setting created good imagery. Lastly, I liked the dog because it was saving people and was kind, soft, and loving.
The book began with a lot of action involving Bryce, his dog Sierra and David and his dog Harper. Bryce was practicing with David and their dogs in a drill called “run away” where Bryce runs away and called over the two-way radio saying, “in position!” Then David would let Harper go to find Bryce. When Harper reached Bryce, he called over the radio saying, “contact!” Bryce hid in a remote location and the dog worked very hard to find him. Then David called Harper back and said, “show me!” Harper would then walk over to the area and point to where Bryce was.
In the middle of the book, 14 Girl Scouts go on a hike on Green Mountain on a rainy day to practice survival in the wilderness in harsh conditions. On the way back one disappeared! The others tried to find her. With no luck they came back then called 9-1-1. In the end, Bryce was called to the scene to help with the search.
Bryce and Sierra checked the trail 2 or 3 times before deciding to go off trail. When they got to a steep hill Sierra got a good scent. About half way up the hill Bryce slipped and fell. Knocking himself out! Then Sierra came to the rescue and went back to the rescue station to get help. As I read, I felt excited and shocked at the same time!
The characters in the book were well developed and I could relate to Bryce in particular because we both have dogs, I also like Bryce because we both have been known to stumble at times. Lastly, I like Bryce because we both help people in different ways.
Another prime character was Sierra. I liked Sierra because she was a dog and saved people who got lost. In addition, she was the best candidate for finding people because she was kind, loving, determined, soft, and could smell a lot better than a human. I could relate to Sierra because I have a dog that is just like Sierra. I also like this book because I have been somewhere like Green Mountain, but it was called Iron Mountain. They were similar because they both have lots of trails, and when it rains you can slip and fall, and you could get lost.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to people who like dogs and action when they read novels. In the end, it had exciting parts like when Sierra went back to get help and sad parts like when Bryce fell and got knocked out.
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