Review of “Zelda the Rescue Dog to the Rescue!” by Jeffrey Schoenherr

Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)

Zelda the Rescue Dog to the Rescue! is an adorable children's book by Jeffrey Schoenherr. It's the perfect book for every animal lover, particularly if you're a dog person like we are. This book charmed us with it positivity and relatable story.

Who hasn't gone to visit a shelter or pet store, enraptured by the idea of bringing at least one of them home and giving them a new (and presumably happier) life. Well, the truth is, not only do we give pets a new life when we bring them home, they sometimes give us a new life. Bringing a pet home can be a huge or even life-changing decision. Pets become like another family member in the home. They require love, food, shelter, and attention, but they also give us a lot in return.

This book captures that reciprocal spirit—the mutually-beneficial relationship that forms between a pet owner and their pet.

This book follows an elderly couple, Neil and Lillian, as they decide to adopt a pet from the local shelter. The lucky dog turns out to be Zelda, a dog who had a rough upbringing, presumably abandoned and neglected.

Zelda is incredibly grateful and forms a strong bond with her new family. After showing Zelda love, compassion, and care, it becomes Zelda's turn to demonstrating how incredible, loving, and caring she can be.

Neil has an adverse health event, likely a heart attack or stroke, and Zelda goes into hero mode, detecting that something is wrong with her owner and going to get help.

This book, again, has such a great feel to it. It also looks good. No, the art isn't the Mona Lisa, but it's really nice and has a hand-drawn look. The human characters and dogs look good. You want to reach through the page and hug them.

The only thing that somewhat held this back is a typo on page 3 in which “Zeldnever” is written instead of “Zelda never.” It is easy to overlook due to how good this book is.