A Dog Like Daisy

Max meets A Dog Called Homeless in this sweet and poignant middle grade novel told from the humorous, thoughtful perspective of a rescued pit bull as she trains to be a service dog for an injured veteran and his family. Daisy has only ten weeks to prove her usefulness or else be sent back to the pound. Yet if she goes back, who will protect Colonel Victor from his PTSD attacks? Or save the littler human, Micah, from those infernal ear muzzles he calls earphones? What if no one ever adopts her again? Determined to become the elite protector the colonel needs, Daisy vows to ace the service dog test. She’ll accept the ridiculous leash and learn to sit, heel, shake, even do your business, Daisy when told to. But Daisy must first learn how to face her own fears from the past or risk losing the family she’s so desperate to guard—again.

Currently in development with CBS Films, this is the emotional and uplifting memoir of a woman who became a volunteer trainer for Daisy, a sweet yellow Lab puppy, and her unique relationship with the inmate who is Daisy’s partner in the Prison PUP program. When Sharron Luttrell, a journalist still deeply mourning the loss of her family dog, found out about a weekend puppy raiser program for a service dog organization, she knew it was just she needed to help her move on. It seemed ideal; pick up a puppy on Friday, return it on Sunday night, get a new puppy each year. No strings attached. Well, it turns out that there were strings – and they tugged at her every Sunday evening when she had to return “her dog” to prison. This memoir chronicles Sharron’s year co-parenting Daisy, a sweet lab puppy, with Keith, a convicted felon serving a decades-long sentence. As Sharron and Keith develop a rapport based on their brief weekend handovers (an exchange she describes as "divorced parents handing over the kids"), she begins to speculate about what the quiet, gentle Keith could have done to wind up in medium-security prison. When, through an accident of fate, Sharron finally discovers the crime Keith actually committed, she is shaken to her foundation. How can she continue to work with him, knowing what she does? But can she dismiss her personal experience with him, which has been nothing but kind? Ultimately, she looks to Daisy to pull her through—she must “think like a dog” and react in the present, not the past. Mindful of how much Daisy has taught her in a short time, Sharron can also see how much this special dog has helped Keith learn empathy, remorse, and to face the consequences of his actions. As the two of them work tirelessly to ensure that Daisy passes her final test and fulfills her destiny by becoming a service dog, Sharron tests the limits of her own strength, compassion, and capacity for love.

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, the award-winning author of A Dog Like Daisy, delivers another heartwarming must-read middle grade novel for dog lovers. Equal parts funny and poignant, this book from the point of view of the service dog, Zeus, is perfect for fans of Max and A Dog Called Homeless. Zeus comes from a long line of heroic dogs, and he dreams of glory as a K9 commander. But he receives a much more dangerous assignment—middle school! And as all good service dogs know, the only way to get through hostile territory is by being invisible. Zeus’s new human, Madden, is diabetic, and he wants to be invisible, too. That’s hard to do with a huge German Shepherd at his side to alert him when his blood sugar drops. And it’s even harder because Madden makes this noise called music that draws attention. Zeus’s mission becomes clear: he must destroy music. While Zeus’s training prepared him for his most important job—keeping Madden safe—he discovers the human world is complicated. As Madden dreams of winning the state band competition and tries to reconnect with his mom, the lieutenant, Zeus must learn that, sometimes, you need to stand out to fulfill your duty.

Claire Guest was walking her dogs when Daisy, a fox red Labrador, nudged her breast insistently and stared up into her face with her big brown eyes. Sensing something was wrong, Claire visited her GP and soon found out she had a very deep – and difficult to diagnose – form of breast cancer. Daisy had saved her life, simply by smelling her cancer. With her scientific background and deep love of dogs, Claire intuited that Daisy and her canine pals could save many more lives, and set up the charity Medical Detection Dogs. Though faced with many challenges, Claire and her dogs have proven to be a remarkable asset to cancer detection, and have changed the lives of many seriously ill people and their families. This is the story of how our relationship with dogs can unleash life-saving talents, changing not only the medical world, but our own lives too.

"A must for Daisy fans everywhere," declares School Library Journal in a starred review. With the same emotional intensity that he brought to his New York Times bestselling, New York Times Best Illustrated, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book A Ball for Daisy, Raschka has created a story that explores fear as only he can. Any child who has ever felt lost will relate to Daisy's despair upon finding herself in an unfamiliar part of the park after chasing a squirrel. In a nearly wordless picture book, Daisy encounters the unease of being lost and the joys of being found. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to young dog lovers, teachers, parents and, of course, the legions of Daisy fans out there.

Winner of the 2012 Randolph Caldecott Medal This New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Best Illustrated Book relates a story about love and loss as only Chris Rashcka can tell it. Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy's anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo! Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to young dog lovers and teachers and parents who have children dealing with the loss of something special.

Hear the story-behind-the-song and also read-along as Davey McGrew sings the song to Daisy for the first time.

The award-winning author of A Dog Like Daisy returns with a moving middle grade novel from the point of view of Luna, a Labrador therapy dog who accompanies her group therapy kids when they set off on an adventure across Austin, Texas. Luna has always wanted to be a therapy dog at Therapy Dogs Worldwide. Now she’s a whisker away from reaching her fifty-visit pin that will make it official. But when her “clients”—the children who visit her—are put into a therapy group, Luna’s routine is upended. Like the moon, Luna shows different faces at different times. And her clients each have different needs—Beatrice is tangled in knots of anger, Caleb rushes like a waterfall, Amelia carries fear heavy like a shadow, and Hector is quiet as a rock. To comfort the kids, Luna can be what they need her to be, but can she be everything to them all at once? When Hector doesn’t show up to a session one day, the kids set off on an unexpected quest to find him. Luna joins to keep them safe, and they must work together to almost learn the truth. * Banks Street Best Children's Books of the Year *