American authors Sofie Wells and Ali Barclay kicked off their picture-book series about a globetrotting dog in early 2025 with The Tales of Charlie Wags: New York City, in which the titular pup travels from his “ordinary house” in a suburban setting to the big city in a surprising way: teleportation. “He’s got a trick, it’s true! He gives his tail a little wag and ends up someplace new.” In rhyming text, Charlie sees the sights at the Central Park Zoo, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty, among other places, and an accompanying map and appendix (“Paws and Learn: LANDMARKS UNLEASHED!”) offer more info for curious young minds. “The lovely images” by Swedish artist Sanna Sjöström, our reviewer notes, “are primed to…encourage a desire for pursuing new experiences.” And, indeed, the series offers such experiences in later entries, which take the cute canine to an array of European locales.
Charlie’s next journey, in The Tales of Charlie Wags: London, takes him first to Buckingham Palace, where he mischievously tries to make the “serious and tall” guards laugh—but, unfortunately, “nothing works at all.” By the end of the tale, youngsters will have learned about such familiar attractions as Big Ben and the London Eye, as well as local customs and cuisine, from afternoon tea to fish and chips—and again, a map helpfully puts it all into geographical context. Sjöström’s “vibrant artwork offers young readers a way to experience a new land without leaving the couch,” notes Kirkus’ reviewer, “but the adorable little dog’s journey is sure to spark interest in travel abroad.”
The Tales of Charlie Wags: Paris repeats the format in “a very gentle and sweet story” of a trip to the French capital, according to our reviewer. Its tour of such landmarks as Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe provides phonetic pronunciations of terms for non-French speakers (“Eye-Fuhl”). The next book, however, is even more ambitious: In The Tales of Charlie Wags: European Christmas Adventure, the teleporting pooch makes a wintertime trek to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he skates on frozen canals; Brussels, Belgium, where Charlie enjoys lovely architecture—and waffles; the “enchanting streets” of Munich, Germany; and finally Vienna, Austria, where “the palace overflows with merry tunes inside its halls.” A “FESTIVE WONDERS UNWRAPPED!” section provides more in-depth detail, but this time, the map encompasses all of Europe.
The latest series installment, The Tales of Charlie Wags: Irish Adventure, is an Emerald Isle idyll that involves stops in multiple cities and some less-familiar places.Charlie visits the Blarney Stone in Cork, as adults might expect, but he also heads to Trinity College in Dublin to see the Book of Kells (“His nose goes boop against the glass to take in every scene”) and to the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced “More”). Our reviewer notes how “this travelogue balances realism with warmth, offering young readers a sense of both Ireland’s vast history and its charming everyday bustle.”
Overall, this low-key but charming series effectively highlights many delights of travel abroad—and youngsters will wonder where in the world Charlie will go next.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
