SuitabookThe very best sheepdog
Pinny Grylls
- Reading
- Read together if the themes of mistakes, comparison or being laughed at may need discussion. Pause before the search to ask what Ben might usefully contribute.
- Themes
- Expectations and self-worth: Ben has prize-winning parents and is described as the most hopeless sheepdog on the farm, despite trying hard. The story contrasts external expectations and repeated failure with a later discovery of Ben’s useful ability.
- Friendship and belonging: Ben becomes friends with a lamb and plays ‘sniff and seek’, but the friendship is judged unsuitable by others. The friendship is shown as enjoyable for Ben and the lamb, while the surrounding farm community treats it as socially unacceptable.
- Finding a different strength: When the sheep are lost, the farmer sends Ben because of his good nose, and the sheep follow him home. The narrative clearly validates Ben’s distinctive ability by making it useful in the crisis and linking it with a valued place on the farm.
- Worth knowing
- Notice how the farm responds to Ben’s friendship and mistakes, and whether the ending makes his value seem dependent on solving a problem or broader than one success.