Review: Colorful/Heartwarming Story about Love and a Pet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2013
This is a very colorful and nicely illustrated 2013 child's book, as you can see from the cover page.  It is a heartwarming story about a family -- Lee (mother), Tony (dad), and Jessie (young daughter). Tony works out of the country for all but 2 weeks a year.  While both Lee and Jessie miss Tony tremendously, Jessie seems to internalize it and is sad all the time.While shopping one day, Lee finds a lonely, abandoned Boxer dog and brings him home.Although Lee and Jessie don't have much to give the dog, Lee made him comfortable.  Jessie soon falls in love with "Richard" and they become the best of friends, while he helps to fill the void within her young heart.  ". . .From that day on, Jessie never cried or frowned again, and Richard would never, ever be left out in the cold, behind the rubbish bins. . ."As a dog lover, and having been the owner of several rescued dogs, I absolutely LOVED this book.  It touches your heart about the plight of abandoned pets.  Dogs give us their unconditional love and ask virtually nothing in return, yet some folks cast them aside like meaningless rubble.  In this story, Richard not only finds happiness, but helps to make a little girl whole again.I believe this book will encourage your child's sensitivity, by teaching him/her about the precious love they can give to and receive from one of God's creatures and why they should be kind to animals.  It is a beautiful, heartwarming book for your beautiful child.As a side note, I had the TV on while writing this review and the Purina Sponsored Freestyle Flying Disc Competition in Las Vegas, Nevada just happened to be on, (where dogs were competing by catching flying discs).  The owner of one of the competitors said that his dog was a rescued dog.