Book Review – A Very Sweet Picture Book & a Halloween Limerick

Madeline Finn and the Therapy Dog by Lisa Papp

 

From the publisher: Peachtree

Madeline Finn hopes Star can become a therapy dog. But first he needs to pass his test. They have been practicing all the skills he needs to master. They practice meeting people. They practice sitting still when a bike goes by. They even practice meeting other dogs. Now Madeline Finn and Star are off to Walker Oaks, a retirement community where Star will take his tests. They face a variety of challenges and meet several new friends. But Madeline Finn can't stop thinking about an elderly man in a wheelchair, who never smiles. Is there something she and Star can do to help Mr. Humphrey?

 

This is a lovely picture book. It’s like a giant hug – it’s soft and warm and wraps you up in its embrace. The palette is pleasing with such enjoyable illustrations. I love learning about a new series and now I can read the other two books, Madeline Finn and the Library Dog and Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog. There are so many sweet elements to this story, a dog in training, visiting a retirement home, understanding there are people with different issues and pain to work through and how animals and people can assist them, reading and listening. Madeline Finn and the Therapy Dog is a joy to read.

And a Halloween Limerick!

There once was a ghost who was blue

He found it too hard to say Boo!

It wasn’t until

A mean ghost named Jill

She scared him so much he Boo-hooed!