Pets in hospitals, care homes, etc. have become a welcome introduction into wards, and none more so than in Children's Wards. In this beautifully illustrated and happy book, we meet Dot, a Dalmation and her owner, Rose. They are a jolly duo, and every morning after their breakfast and a swim in the sea, they take a bus to the local hospital where they cheer up the children no end. The chaos is wonderful to behold, and we meet lots of different children: Bea, who is shy and nervous, Gus who is a bored teenager, baby Katy, who is feeling poorly, and Joe, who is deaf; Dot is soon in the midst of them, being petted and loved. Even a busy doctor and a mum are cheered up by meeting the dog. When it is time for Rose and Dot to leave, Joe and his mum are leaving too, but when they get out on the street, and Rose and mum are cooing over a baby, Joe sees a friend across the road and starts to cross. Being deaf, he doesn't hear the car coming, and it is Dot, who manages to knock him out of the way, getting hit by the car himself. A broken leg is the outcome, and soon he and Rose are at home, Dot's leg in plaster. He is bored - no swimming, no jumping, no bus rides - and six weeks to wait. But what is this? The children from the ward arrive in a group, and soon they are cuddling and loving Dot just as they have done in hospital. This is a remarkable and happy story about the joy that animals bring to us all and particularly to those who are not well. The rhyming text and the joyous pictures are a treat, and the book belongs in every Children's Ward in the country!