Rescue thought he’d grow up to be a Seeing Eye dog. It’s the family business, after all. When he gets the news that he’s better suited to be a service dog, he’s worried that he’s not up to the task. Then he meets Jessica, a girl whose life is turning out differently than the way she’d imagined it, too. Now Jessica needs Rescue by her side to help her accomplish everyday tasks. And it turns out that Rescue can help Jessica see after all: a way forward, together, one step at a time.
I found this book at Once Upon a Storybook, and the owner of the store gave it to me before the store, unfortunately, closed.
I read this book with my mom, and she kept mispronouncing words. She kept saying “cap” instead of “cape” and once said “carpet”. We laughed at that. It proves that even a sad story can be fun.
At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, my parents and I just happened to be walking by the stage when Rescue, Jessica, and her husband Patrick were doing a reading of their book. They had an enlarged version of their book, so the audience could see better. We had brought my service dog, Dude, with us, so he and I sat on the ground up front with all the other little kids. Here’s a picture of Jessica reading her book (notice Rescue is looking at the picture of himself).
At the Q&A, I found out that Rescue is an English lab, just like Dude. I got to talk to them for a minute, and I told them that their dog is much better behaved than mine. One little boy asked if Rescue can drive a car. Jessica said no, but wouldn’t that be cute?
To learn more about Jessica and Rescue’s story, check out the Author’s Note at the end of the book or check out the video link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fMGVoLXJlc
This week’s Weird but True Fact about Smart Dogs
Dogs in the U.K. were trained to fly an airplane.