Best Friends Furever

Love Puppies #1

by JaNay Brown-Wood

Adorable dogs + a sprinkle of magic + a celebration of social emotional learning!

Yip! Yip! Hooray! A little magic can save the day!



When Rosie and the rest of the Love Puppies find out that Meiko is struggling to make friends at her new school, they are sure they can sniff out a solution! But it takes more than magic to break the ice. If they can be creative, these caring canines just might find a lonely girl her paw-fect match!



With a little bit of magic and a whole lot of kindness, the Love Puppies are here to help kids overcome some tough social situations. Because with the power of love, anything is paw-sible!

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 7, 2023

About the author

JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD is an award-winning children’s author, educator, and scholar. Her first book Imani’s Moon won the NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award, and her second book Grandma’s Tiny House: A Counting Story received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and won the CELI Read Aloud Book Award. She has several poems published including Falling Leaves in the poetry anthology Thanku: Poems of Gratitude (Lerner/Millbrook, 2019) a Chicago Public Library’s Best Informational Books for 2019, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, and a Notable Children’s Book for the Global Society. She has more than seven forthcoming books including Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep (Charlesbridge, forthcoming 2021), Where in the Garden a four-book series (Peachtree, forthcoming 2021, 2022, 2023) and Jam, Too (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, forthcoming 2023). She is represented by the fabulous Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary. Learn more about her here at www.janaybrownwood.com or follow her on Twitter @janaybrownwood.

Reviews

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute story with a number of teachable moments about how to make and be a good friend. The chapters are nice and short and the story itself is fairly simple - would be great for young readers who like paw patrol but with a bit more magic!

[Stephanie Harless · Rating 5 out of 5]

PUPPIES AND FRIENDSHIP. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR.
This book is so cute.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing the author JaNay having a relevant PhD and the blurb mentioning social emotional learning had me a bit excited to see how this series went. The story and the writing feels like it's meant to be a setup or secret pitch for a TV show which I feel two ways about. On one hand it seems to be playing into the popularity of modern child media like Paw Patrol. On the other hand, it causes some reading issues that I'll describe later. On the whole this book seems to be read with a parent as it easily allows for SEL dialogues after reading with this book in particular on making friends and how to engage with people. I'd even argue not for third graders but for younger kids due to its content and thematic dressing. But at third grade it could also encourage reading as it is just due to the fun nature of it though I fear in the modern climate most third graders would be put off by its cover only making me feel this is truly meant for even younger audiences than it suggests even more. It's a good effort and it's clear JaNay wanted to approach the topic of making friends from multiple angles so more children could relate and have a more honest dialogue to them, at their level which not every book achieves, to truly set forth an idea instead of a lazily plastered message to appease parents. This is an earnest SEL story first and it succeeds in that.
But its trappings to a TV show procedural setup makes this a bit hard to read. It feels like the beginning, and other portions, might be a bit hard for younger readers to follow. The dogs’ attitudes are too similar. I found myself flipping to the back to remember who was who's who as they felt too samey. I fear for younger readers this'll be too much. The writing itself also seems to lack some details especially at the beginning. It's written almost like a novelization of a kids show expecting children to already be familiar with the Crystal Bone and the banner clone Puppies. I understand the choice of setting up a tradition for the start to help readers feel familiar as they (eventually) go reading book to book of the series. Other chapter books and tv shows do the same thing to great effect for creating a sense of pattern and familiarization but it felt too quick and too sparsely explained here for the first ever time this setup is being created. I'm not saying it needs to have pictures throughout but maybe starting the first page or two with illustrations of the Love Puppies would be helpful. I don't want to play into underestimating children but it did feel very hard to navigate the different characters aside from the POV dog on the point that she's literally the protagonist and the shape-shifting dachshund since his trait was more pronounced. The other two's personality traits felt underutilized to help familiarize readers with the crew. Some dialogue felt hamfisted, especially the moments of humor, but it's clearly again in earnest from a person who knows how to talk and express ideas in a proper framework for children.

[Paige V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from my little sister (10):

The Love Puppies are a group of magical puppies that help needy kids. Rosie can grow flowers, Clyde can fly, Noodles can control the weather, and Barkly can turn into anything he wishes. When Meiko, in 3rd grade, starts her new school in the middle of the year and hasn't made a friend in 3 days, the Love Puppies will use their power to support her. Along the way, they find a girl named Jasmine, who has much in common with Meiko. Their goal is to help Meiko and Jasmine become friends.

Even if the book targets a younger audience (7-10), I did enjoy reading this book. It could have been my favorite book at a younger age.
My favorite character was Clyde because he could only think of food like me.
Adorable, fast-paced, and a touch of magic, those books reminded me of My Little Pony. They will give confidence in reading to young readers and will provide fun times with a good message.

Thank you for sharing this book with me!

[Kirsten Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Love Pupppies are magical puppies who help children in need by spreading love and kindness. When Meiko, a third grade student, cannot find a new friend after switching schools, the Love Puppies decide to help her. They use their magic creating plants, baking a cake, and ultimately getting Meiko to meet a girl named Jasmine whose best friend recently moved away. In the end, the two girls become friends and the Love Puppies were successful.
I am not super into magical puppy stories, but I think that it was a really cute idea and kids will love it. The concept of trying to help a girl make a new friend is beyond sweet and fans of other puppy series like Puppy Place would probably enjoy these.

[Caren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little girls will love this.

[Kenzie Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i liked win the puppies fowd meikos friend

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it to my 5 year old. She loved it, but it was almost painfully bad for myself, haha!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appropriate for: all ages!

My 6 year old daughter liked this book a lot. I liked it, didn't love it. I wish there were more pictures for my daughter.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story I read with my 8 yo. She really enjoyed it and is excited to read the next one.

[Michelle Till · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty good. I feel like at some parts it can get a little boring but it’s really cute

[Katie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter picked this up at her book fair at school. She loves dogs and enjoyed this book. I thought it was a little lame, but she was pleased with her purchase!