Review of “Puppy Comes Home” by Diane Capogna

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

Puppy Comes Home is a heartwarming, happy, and uplifting children's book that follows a family and a dog as they go through the puppy stages of her life.

Abbey Rose is an adorable Great Dane puppy, the largest puppy in her whole litter. What also helps her to stand out from her brothers and sisters is the white pattern that adorns her nose, paw, and chest. She's absolutely adorable! Our all-time winningest artist, Anthony Richichi really captures Abbey Rose's cuteness and uniqueness. He did the same in capturing Alfie's cuteness and uniqueness in Alfie. We've said it before, but Richichi is especially adept at illustrating animals (and non-human creatures).

Abbey Rose is curious, adventurous, and sometimes even mischievous, as all good little boys and girls are! As a puppy, she does things like chew on shoes, ruining them with her sharp teeth. However, most of the time, she's the life of the party—a positive force for comfort and good. People love to pet her because she's the tallest dog, and thus the easiest to reach.

We get to see how Abbey Rose touches so many lives positively, bringing joy and happiness to all who encounter her.

This book as a bittersweet backstory or undertone as Abbey Rose was born with too big a heart (literally)--a rare and often fatal condition. Abbey Rose was not given long to live, but by golly did she LIVE!

This book doesn't dwell in the loss or even the inevitability of it. Instead, the book simply portrays Abbey Rose as living a very happy and full life—a complete and fulfilling life. This book memorializes Abbey Rose in the most loving, caring, genuine, and beautiful way possible: by showing all the things that she got to experience, and all the love she gave and was given.

It's hard not to shed a tear when thinking about this.

One of our favorite parts of the book was when Abbey Rose's parents decided to dress her up for special days: Santa Claus on Christmas, a referee for a football game, and a ladybug for Halloween. What this tells the reader is that even that even though Abbey Rose didn't live as long as most other dogs, she still experienced a lot and accomplished a lot.

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