Only Berta’s family – nine-year-old Marjory Miller and her parents – know what a truly remarkable dog she is. To the outside world, she seems like a perfectly ordinary, slightly lazy dachshund. Even Marjory acknowledges that Berta’s favorite pastimes are “eating and sleeping and, if necessary, taking short walks.” But one spring Berta develops a sudden interest in baby farm animals. She tries her hand at mothering baby chicks and a neighbor’s newborn kitten, none of whom particularly need or want Berta for a mother. Patrick the lamb, however, is another story. Rejected by his own mother, he needs special care and Berta is equal to the task. Episodic chapters and a gentle, humorous tone make this short novel perfect for newly independent readers. Like Marjory, they will come to see exactly what makes Berta remarkable: her ordinary dogginess. (Ages 5-9)