The McNifficents

A proper miniature schnauzer and self-appointed nanny seeks to tame his unruly charges in a lively role-reversing family story by Makechnie (Ten Thousand Tries). When an event on the first day of summer sees the McNiff clan again ejected from the local lake, pup Lord Tennyson, “a short, middle-aged gentleman with white whiskers and a royal pedigree,” resolves to change things by season’s end. The children—ranging from 18 months to 13 years—each serve up their own style of disorderly conduct, however, while their free-spirited, largely hands-off parents are often in the wings. But keeping constant watch and employing well-timed barks, frowns, licks, and tugs is only the beginning for Tenny. In addition to doing nanny research and attempting to teach the children basic dog-care tasks, he must take on rescue missions (e.g., pulling toddler Sweetums from the lake) and check his raw canine instincts around the family’s baby chicks. Makechnie invites readers into a sometimes frenetic household that’s frequently suffused with love and laughs. Humor abounds in quirky details—avian creatures named after Downton Abbey characters, Tenny’s formal inner dialogue and love of the film Mary Poppins—while the siblings’ bickering, teasing, and supportive interactions ring true. The human family reads as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (June)