Member Reviews
A delightful children's read!
ASPCA PAW Pals" Chance's Choice has Meg moving more times than she cares to admit. Tired of being the new kid in town she delves into helping find a good home for the abandoned collie left at her uncle's pet grooming salon.
Pleasant storyline and great illustrations.
So many service dogs these days! I love it that rescue animals are finding homes and purposes as service animals. They make life easier to cope with for so many people with disabilities. in the case of this book, Chance, a rescue dog, becomes a very special companion to a little girl with epilepsy. Meg's family moves around a lot due to her father's employment. So frequent moving is also a topic. Kids 3rd grade up will enjoy this story while learning about epilepsy and service dogs. The author adds info at the end of the book about a real life service dog and how he became on.
ASPCA PAW Pals: Chance's Choice by Brenda Scott Royce is the first book anyone in our family has read in this series or by this author. My grandchildren and I had some interesting discussions as we read this book. Seizures, epilepsy, and therapy dogs other than guide dogs are some of discussions that we had. From that viewpoint this is an excellent source to initiate those conversations.
Also this is a great crossover book for children who are moving into chapter books without the book being too daunting. The full color illustrations within the chapters were a hit with the children. The story is written in first person, giving the reader insight into how Meg felt about her family moving as well as her epilepsy. Most can relate to her feelings of moving and always feeling different, even if they have had no experience with certain illnesses or service dogs. Of course, the stray dog, Chance is wonderful too. He is a reader’s favorite.
The story is easy to read, follow and understand for those making the transition from quick reading books to chapter books. The background story for Meg was solidly built. While Meg met Chance after her first day of school it seemed a long time in coming. Once that happened the story kept all of us interested.
A great start to the PAW Pals series! This book was about Meg, who suffers from epilepsy and finding a home for an abandoned pup. After trying to find Chance a good home, it becomes evident that he's already right where he is supposed to be. Such a great story for children and adults!
Chance’s Choice is a wonderful story to help explain what service animals do. The story is relatable and enjoyable. I look forward to reading this with my Girl Scout Troop when we are learning about animals. I highly recommend adding Chance’s Choice to your child’s library!
Do you know a child who loves animals, especially dogs? If yes, this is a wonderful beginning chapter book for them. It is part of the ASPCA kids series.
In this entry, Meg has moved to a new town after many prior moves. She is not happy! Meg decides that she will not unpack and will not make friends since she will only have to leave them. She would love a dog but her parents say no. Again, she is not happy. What happens? Young readers will enjoy finding out as they spend time with Meg, her cousin, Blanca (a child from the neighborhood) and others . They will also find out how Chance, an abandoned pup, becomes a dog with a special talent. Let your young reader find out what he can do.
This story has short chapters, illustrations and paw prints. All of these engage the reader. The book ends with information about a dog who does what Chance does.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this fun chapter book. All opinions are my own.
What a terrific way to introduce children and adults alike to the wonderful world of service animals! The book is well-written and takes a complicated topic and manages to whittle it down to basic elements that everyone can understand. Touching on the topic of being the new kid was well done, too. I particularly loved that there are many people out there who take care of abandoned animals and others who volunteer to train the animals.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Cute, sweet, educational.
The book starts off with the new kid who's constantly moving cliche. It's a bit overdone already, but I've rarely met a book with this cliche that I haven't enjoyed. So I guess there's a reason it keeps popping up.
The story is highly enjoyable and a perfect length for readers in about 3rd grade and up. Maybe even younger, if they're up to chapter books. There are nice occasional illustrations, great characters, friendships, and of course, dogs!
I wasn't aware that service dogs can help people with epilepsy. The book doesn't go into any scary episodes, but it's a good way to introduce the idea to younger folks.
Overall, this is an enjoyable book and I recommend it for all dog lovers, kids or not.
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Fantastic read for children. This book was loved by my 2 children when I read it to them. So much so they want me to buy it so definitely a huge hit
This is a wonderful book for children. I love how they took a stray dog and trained it to be a service dog. This is a short fast read that will hold your child's attention. There are wonderful dogs and cats just waiting to be rescued at your local shelter. Thank you Printers Row Publishing Group via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.
I had a lot of fun reading<i> ASPCA Paw Pals: Chance's Choice</i> by Brenda Scott Royce. It reminded me of the Animal Ark series and a few other books that I read as a kid myself. This is probably a book that I would have loved when I was younger, though as my reading level at that age was a quite a bit higher and this book probably would have been much better for my sister. Regardless, <i>Chance's Choice </i>is such an incredibly important book because it discusses disabilities and service dogs, something that I truly wish I'd had more exposure to when I was young and I feel deeply grateful and happy that this is a book that will soon be available to kids of this generation. Chance is a stray dog left outside the animal shelter that Meg's aunt and uncle own. While Meg has never owned a pet due to her father's constantly moving job, she desperately wants one. Alongside that, Meg also has epilepsy.
I really appreciated the fact that this book was told from the perspective of a character with epilepsy, not something I have really seen often in novels. It's important for children dealing with an illness like this to be able to see themselves in characters and for kids who do not have this illness to be able to empathize with those who do. This short children's chapter book follows Meg as she grows attached to the young border collie she found on the street and then as the idea of Chance becoming her service dog becomes a possibility.
The story is fast paced and quick to read. While I know from my own experience with border collies that the calm nature Chance is described as having is incredibly rare in the breed and therefore surprising and almost unrealistic, that's really my only issue with this book. I do know that border collies are incredibly intelligent and I can certainly see how one might become a support animal. Overall, I'm incredibly glad that this book exists and I look forward to when it's published!
<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>
A big thank you to NetGalley and Printers Row Publishing Group for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I am sure this is part of a series but reads great as a stand alone. This is a children's book. This is a great story, encourages empathy, and learning about service dogs. Nicely done, cute grphics. Meaningful and fun story. 4 stars. I think most kids would enjoy.
An adorable story about a young girl with epilepsy, whose family moves so frequently--sometimes overseas--that she's never been able to have pets. Now temporarily in the town where her cousins live, at least Meg can help out in their grooming salon. A young Border Collie is abandoned outside the shop, and he and Meg immediately bond. Eventually with everybody diligently researching and training, Chance becomes Meg's service dog.