Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Take a ride-along with Sergeant Mark Tappan and his amazing K9 partner Mattis, whose heroic actions will inspire you to live courageously, serve selflessly, and love passionately because every human (and dog) has a purpose in a Dog Named Mattis: Sergeant Mark Tappan shares a unique bond with his K9 partner Mattis, one of the most decorated police K9s of all time. Mark knew from the first time they interacted that Mattis was something special. As a man of deep faith, Mark also knew that God’s most profound teaching often comes through the most unexpected sources, and he soon realized that Mattis was going to teach him about loyalty, selfless service, and so much more. In  A Dog Named Mattis , Mark shares twelve life lessons he’s learned from working with Mattis. Through these first-hand accounts of bravery and service, you will learn profound lessons, like: being willing to ‘go all in’ and work with all your heart even when things are uncertain, how persistence ...

  Jake Beckett and his twins, Kyle and Kayla, are training a service dog for their good senior friend Miss Myrna who has macular degeneration and is losing her eyesight. As Their Inseparable Bond   by Jill Weatherholt starts off, Jake and his kids keep busy helping Miss Myrna, but they are also sad as the children's mother passed away awhile ago. Olivia is an emergency room doctor in Miami. She is divorced and she worried about her Grandma, Myrna, so she takes a leave of absence from her job to help her Grandma and possibly move her back to Florida to live with her. Myrna doesn't want to go and enjoys her small town life. Olivia is soon caught up in the lives of Myrna's friends. She helps Jake train Myrna's dog. She helps the children. Although, little Kayla is wary of her to begin with. When Kayla learns that Olivia's dad passed away when she was young, they bond over shared losses. Their Inseparable Bond is a sweet and clean read. I like dogs so I enjoy the K-9 e...

  Do you enjoy dogs? Slow Dog by Joy Johnston is a delightful children's story about an older dog that moves slowly and a young girl who wants to go fast a lot of the time. I think this could fit a lot of families. I loved the bright, beautiful illustrations. I almost feel like I could reach in and pet Murphy. I like that the illustrations are inclusive with people of color but I think the story could resonate with many. I see lots of children with energy who want to go fast--and I remember wanting to go fast. Yet, Murphy and this book show the true value in taking life slower and enjoying the little things. Slow Dog is one of my favorite children's book reads of this year. Slow Dog is a paperback book that is 28 pages long and measures about 8 1/2 inches square and fairly thin. It is aimed at children about ages four to eight. I received this book through Library Thing from the author/publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

I am one of those people who always roots for the under dog. I also love animals so Second-Chance Dogs looked like a book I would enjoy. It did not disappoint me either. Second-Chance Dogs is a book full of real-life stories about dogs who got a second chance, one way or another. This is a feel-good collection of stories of all kinds of dog situations and all kinds of dog owners. One thing all of these stories had in common is that they tugged on my emotions. A few of them made me giggle and more than a few of them touched my heart strings and I shed a tear or two. I imagine any reader who likes dogs would also be touched by these stories. I enjoyed all of the stories in Second-Chance Dogs . I would recommend Second-Chance Dogs to any other animal lover out there who likes to read and likes to see dogs and humans be rescued. I have to be honest, some day soon I am hoping we can have our own real life rescue dog story as we find a dog we can rescue--or maybe it will rescue us....