Harry the Dirty Dog, originally published in 1956, is another book that I vividly remember from childhood and as a testament to its appeal it remains a huge seller in bookshops today.

Harry is a little white dog with black spots who has an aversion to baths (what dog doesn’t?). One day when he hears the water running he buries the scrubbing brush and runs away from home. Gradually during his very adventurous day around the city he becomes a very dirty dog: ‘In fact, he changed from a white dog with black spots, to a black dog with white spots‘.

When Harry returns home his family doesn’t recognise him as their dog. Then the real fun begins as Harry tries to convince the family that he belongs to them ending with…a bath!

Husband and wife team Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham created several Harry books together; No Roses for Harry, Harry by the Sea and Harry and the Lady Next Door, all with simple story lines about Harry getting in - and out of - trouble. What really makes me love these books now as an adult is the illustrations by Bloy Graham and their lovely warm 1950s style. There is always so much happening in her artwork, I love the people with their wide eyed expressions, and Harry of course just has so much personality in his up turned nose.

This is one of those books that everyone I know always adds to their ‘must have’ children’s book list and rightly so, it’s a classic.