Toby and Tutter Therapy Dogs - Hardcover

Kirsten DeBear; Laura Dwight (Photographs)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 098478120X ISBN 13: 9780984781201

Publisher: Toby and Tutter Publishing, 2012

Synopsis

Toby and Tutter are two adopted dogs. Toby, who is older, assists his human mother as she works with young children, providing occupational therapy. Tutter is Toby s clingy little brother. He wants to be a therapy dog like Toby, but he is small and nervous. Tutter tries to do what Toby does, and discovers both what is hard and what he can do. As it becomes clear that Tutter can help the children learn, Toby acknowledges that they can be partners. Children, parents, dog lovers, siblings of all ages, special needs professionals, and teachers will all find something to love about this book.

About this title

About the Author:

Kirsten DeBear is an occupational therapist in private practice, with a degree in parent and infant development. She has been practicing for 35 years, working exclusively with young children. She is an Adjunct Professor at Bank Street College and is the author of another book for children: Be Quiet Marina, with photography by Laura Dwight. Laura Dwight is an award winning photographer specializing in child development and education. Children with special needs are often included or featured in her many books and projects.

Review:

Dogs and kids go together like peanut butter and jelly in DeBear's picture book about therapy dogs. Toby and Tutter are therapy dogs who work with their human mother, an occupational therapist for small children. They perform many activities with the children--snuggle, play ball, show them how to walk on the balance beam and slide down the slide, and help them stay calm and focused during therapy. In DeBear's (Be Quiet, Marina!, 2001) tale, first Toby narrates and then Tutter. Toby is a big, long-haired mutt, older and more experienced. Tutter is younger, a big-eyed Italian greyhound who looks up to Toby and hopes to be just as good a therapy dog someday. The prose is simple, clear and well-calibrated to her target audience of preschoolers. DeBear doesn't shy away from using some words that will require explanation (like occupational therapy), and she surrounds these words with plenty of context clues. Bright photos of the dogs in the playroom accompany the text. Young audiences will love seeing pictures of kids their age with the dogs, and the photo of Toby coming headfirst down the slide is exactly the sort of thing kids beg to see over and over again. Unfortunately, the whole thing is about twice as long as it needs to be. It's easy to imagine the preschool set--who, as a rule, love animals and love simple, true stories about the real world--sitting in rapt attention for most of the book but losing interest toward the end. There are often too many ideas and too many words per page. Keeping track of several storylines--what therapy dogs do, Toby and Tutter's complicated sibling relationship, Tutter's hopes to be a trained therapy dog--may be too much for some kids to take in on the first reading. But that just means there are more details for them to pick up on when they hear it for the second, third and 10th times. Dog-loving preschoolers will want to hear it again and again; a good addition to a library or school's nonfiction collection. --Kirkus Reviews

Toby and Tutter Therapy Dogs is a delight and the kids will love it. And a big thank you to author Kirsten DeBear for all she does for kids. --Joe Camp, creator of the canine superstar Benji, writer/director of all of the Benji movies, author of The Soul of the Horse

Teachers and parents can use Toby and Tutter Therapy Dogs to help children manage perceptions of themselves as being different from other children. It could also facilitate discussions about sibling rivalry, helping others, and learning from others. The wonderful photos will engage both children and adults. --FRIEDA KURASH, Ph.D. Psychologist

About this edition

• Publisher: Toby and Tutter Publishing
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 098478120X
• ISBN 13: 9780984781201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32