Starfish's Story

by Bonnie Bader

The true story of how one little puppy learned to walk -- as seen on The Dodo!

When Starfish was rescued from a California beach, this Belgian Malinois puppy couldn't stand. That's because Starfish had swimmer puppy syndrome, which meant her leg muscles hadn't developed properly. If Starfish was going to walk, she would need help from a lot of new friends.

Luckily, a team of doctors, therapists, and Starfish's family all worked together to encourage and support her. This true story teaches us what it means to never give up hope. With some love, hard work, and a "can-do" attitude, Starfish reached her goals and inspired everyone around her.

This story is perfect for middle-grade readers and comes with eight pages of full-color photos!

Genres: Childrens

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2023

About the author

Bonnie Bader lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unable to finish as some of the pronouns made me want to throw the book across the room as I was trying to read aloud to my elementary age kid. The premise is wonderful; true story about the rehabilitation of the dog, but poorly executed. Just too much.

We enjoyed the pictures and reading captions.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the meaning of hard work. Starfish has inspired people by her swimmer puppy syndrome. She has shown, even when things are hard and tough that you can con-core through them. Starfish showed you should never give up, and work hard. She was able to walk and run. After three surgeries, and help from donations, doctors, and therapists along with her new family. Starfish was able to inspire others to reach their goals.

[Amber Sharp · Rating 3 out of 5]

My seven-year-old got this super cute book from the book fair. The story's protagonist is a puppy named Starfish who was found abandoned and had developed a syndrome that prevented her muscles from developing. The story follows Starfish while she is fostered, adopted, and underwent multiple surgeries along with therapy. It definitely helps to remind you that there are good and caring people left in the world. My only real gripe with it is some of the details they chose to include didn't seem super pertinent to the story, and so it made it feel extra long. However, my creature loving daughter still gave this book two thumbs up.

3.4 / 5 ⭐️

[Peyton Kivel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't really digging the writing style the main character was a girl and they like addressed her as she and her when she was talking or whatever and then but when they were talking about her they would always say like their and they and I didn't really follow that and didn't really enjoy that but I did like how it was a true story and after I read the book and read about the dodo video like and how the family felt when their dog was going to get a Dodo video I got to watch the dodo video after that and I liked that watching the video that the book was about.

[Erin Petschel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is garbage. The character named Maggie is suffered from delusion and thinks there are more then one of her. My 7 year old needs to know that he is singular not plural. My child does not need this man made confusion to succeed in life. This book should be yanked off shelves. This book does not even deserve one star but this feedback probably would not be readable without a rating and if I choose “remove from shelves” then this review will not be visible…

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Starfish’s journey is inspirational and a wonderful way to teach kids about compassion, resilience, and helping animals. However, I was very disappointed that the book used different pronouns for Maggie than what her own family used in The Dodo’s YouTube story, where she is clearly referred to as “she/her.” This inconsistency is confusing for children and felt like the author was pushing an agenda. I chose to discard the book and will not be sharing it with my family.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this for my classroom library for my students who love animals. I followed this story and it was more interesting than the book. Whoever is writing these, please stop adding the voice of the animals. And my kids can handle some of the more technical aspects of the animal's recovery. I love to read; I love animals and I'd really love these books if they got into more detail.

[Kaydence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story was amazing.and how that little puppy never gave up.it is just wow.wow wow wow! puppy had sum type of problem with her lags.but I got a little sad.not from the book from a experience.we had to pot my dog shady down.Because his lags wouldn’t work.it was a sad sad day.but in the story it is not a sad sad ending.it is a happy ending.this book was so amassing.

[Tara Goodreau · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book with my daughter for a school assignment.
It was painfully boring to me. The whole story could have been just a newspaper article or something much shorter as there really isn’t much to say. The story dragged on, but the story was cutesy and inspirational. Starfish’s story was a bit interesting. I was disappointed that they changed her name.

[Martina Matulj · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is a remarkable one but the way the book is written using the ridiculous pronouns it makes it hard to enjoy the books real contents. Cant believe they put that in childrens books, totally unnecessary.

[Sloane H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, short read for anyone looking for a cute story! The writing was definitely meant for younger audiences, which didn’t bother me too much, but otherwise, not a bad book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️!

[Jeannie Gibboney]

Loved it! Very inspiring!

[Daithyasri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.. Really Underrates. SHOULD READ. Also it is very inspirational. ☺️ It left me wanting to restart the whole book...😍😭

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Suzanne Jager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute story for kids!

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little repetitive, but very clear message about not giving up, and great insight into families taking care of injured pets who need adoption.

[Madi McNew]

Not sure how to rate this because I read it aloud to my class. They voted for it and really seemed to enjoy it. I figured I might as well add it to my count for the year!

[Emily Wardell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story but had a hard time getting past the way the story was told with grammar and punctuation

[Elin Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book because it teaches you the true meaning of never, ever giving up. Starfish was born with puppy swimmer syndrome and couldn’t walk but she never gave up even if she fell down several times she would get right back up. I recommend this book to anyone.