Rollo's Wet Surprise
Rollo is a dog that goes to work with his owner, Jim. Jim is a builder and when he is working, Rollo loves to explore all the different homes Jim and his team of builders work at.
One day, the builders are moving lots of big, heavy windows to a safe area. Rollo begins to explore this new part of the garden, and sniffs around.
While Rollo is exploring, he gets a very wet surprise.
Educational Resources
The inspiration for Rollo's Wet Surprise came from an actual event. My family were having the house rennovated by Beecraft Pty Ltd. Each team of builders has a site manager. Our site manager, Jamie, brought his dog, Rocky, to work every day. Rocky was a very large, sweet natured, gentle giant who weighed 55kg and was 6 years old. Our window delivery arrived early, so Jamie and Alex had to store the windows somewhere. they decided to put them in the pool area where they would be safe. Rocky decided to follow them into the pool area and tried to walk across the pool, not realising what a pool cover was. He fell in. Lucky Rocky could swim and get out. It was a funny event that ended well, but I wanted to write a story about it, to show how important watr safety is.
Teaching Notes
These teachers' notes have been written by Penny Macoun. These notes are for educational purposes and contain the following sections: synopsis, about the author, about the illustrator, links to the Australian curriculum (Foundation to Year 2), and themes.
Rollo's Wet Surprise STEM Education
Teaching resources created by Romi Sharp, Books On Tour PR & Marketing. These activities contain links to the Australian Curriculum, discussion questions, positive communication activities and paper tube craft activities.
Paws Paddles - Article by Penny Macoun
This is an article I wrote about keeping yourself and pets safe around water.
Exploring Rollo's Wet Surprise with Penny Macoun
This interview gives a few insights into the creation of Rollo's Wet Surprise.
Meet The Author: Penny Macoun
This interview gives insights into how I approach writing and the creation of Rollo's Wet Surprise.
Penny Macoun creates a SPLASH!
This is an introduction to myself and illustrator, Paul Nash.
Testimonials
Our family were lucky enough to all read one of the first copies last night and we loved it! It’s funny and the illustrations are awesome- the kids really enjoyed reading the story of Rollo’s little misadventure- Great job Penny!
Renee Mason
Rollo's Wet Surprise is a story about curiosity and how in a dogs world, it may get the better of him. Rollo is a lighthearted children's story that encompasses children's human emotions and feelings that even a mans best friend endures and learn from through trials and erros, fear and embarrassment in a way that reconfirms what he always wants to avoid but accidentally cannot. Enjoy this fun adventure in Rollo's life.
Mark Alfano
I think the book is great. I love the description about the dog and the people in the story. I also like the surprise; it was so unlikely to fall. My favourite bit is about the people caring for the dog and showing how much they love him.
Emily, aged 9
I like Rollo's Wet Surprise because it was funny and I liked that the illustrations because they were very accurate to the sentences. Well Done, excellent job.
Stephen, aged 11
Rollo's Wet Surprise is an entertaining enjoyable children's book that I would recommend for children aged 5 to 9. Rollo's dislike for water is endearing as generally dogs like water. This book takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster as Rollo's curiosity gets the better of him.
Ryan, aged 13