Animal Rescue Friends: Learning New Tricks

Cooke, Stephanie and Low, Harriet (Ed.), Marquez, Barbara Perez, Longua, Katie, Kearney, Megan and Trousdale, Chelsea (illus.)
Animal Rescue Friends: Learning New Tricks
November 7, 2023 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus

Our friends from Animal Rescue Friends are back with eight very short stories centered around the organization and its work. While I don't remember the other books having such short stories, this works, and REALLY reminds me of comic books like Richie Rich and Little Lulu. The Epic! series appeals to emerging readers, with large font, clear graphics, and engaging stories. 

There are also a lot of good life lessons in these vignettes. In "Rats are Good Pets, Too", Bell overcomes her aversion to the animals when she has to take care of them. "A Hard Shell to Crack" has Mikey and Bell competing to do the chores assigned and learning to get along and split the work. "Daphne and the Ducklings" finds a border collie visiting the farm for the day being bored until she rounds up some problematic chicks. "Lost and Found Hound" features Major Sprinkles running off to a fruit farm and finding some adventure. "Chatty Bird" mimics one of the supervisors, Fred, and tells the volunteers to do rather silly chores. "Amara, Opie, and Alma" features some misunderstandings but also a lot of cool art, as well as some rambunctious cats. "Bees" offers a lot of really good information after a hive needs to be relocated, and "Houdini at Home" is a good lesson in the amount of care that a rabbit needs in a home. The final story, "Drake and Houdini" has a good lesson about a boy who wants a dog who is a hero and thinks that a bigger dog is the one he wants, while a little, floofy dog saves the day and changes his mind about appearances. 

Readers who enjoy animal shelter stories will find this particularly engaging, and the short stories will be easier to finish for even the shortest attention spans.