Rufus finds a home
By: Theodore Jerome Cohen
Publisher: TJC Press
Release date: January 2017
ISBN: 978-1542691697
Rufus is a beautiful golden retriever who lives with Charlie, a wonderful and caring man. Charlie loves his dog, but the man is getting old and can no longer care for Rufus. What will happen to this special dog?
Rufus is full of energy and wants to play. He loves to chase sticks, take long walks and explore his surroundings. Although Charlie would love to run with his dog, the man has grown old and tired; now he can’t play fetch with his dog. The two sit by a tree on a beautiful fall day, while Charlie worries about his dog. Soon Charlie will be moving into his daughter’s house and Rufus won’t be able to follow his owner to the new house. Charlie remembers many of the fun times the two shared, but her thoughts keep returning to the future of her dog. What will become of Rufus?
As the two friends sit quietly by the tree, a boy approaches Charlie. He asks the man about his dog, what’s his name, if he can do any tricks, and Charlie’s face lights up. There is nothing he likes more than talking about Rufus. Charlie tells Jimmy about the tricks Rufus can do, how the dog went to dog school and was a star student, and how Rufus helps out around the house. Jimmy is quickly joined by his sister Heather and his mother, and all three are intrigued by the beautiful golden retriever.
As Charlie talks about his dog, Heather notices that he is quite sad.
“So why are you sad?” asked the boy’s sister, Heather,
“A good dog like Rufus should bring joy forever.”
“I know,” said the man, wiping tears from his eyes,
but old age has taken my youth by surprise.
It is obvious that Jimmy and his family are loving people who love Rufus. Will they be able to give the dog a new home?
While I have read and reviewed many dog stories dealing with rescues and finding homes for abandoned dogs, this is the first to deal with the very difficult but rarely discussed subject of what happens when an elderly person is gone. able to take care of his pet. Being separated from a beloved pet is difficult for anyone, but for an older person who has already lost a spouse or other loved one, the event can be particularly stressful. Told in rhyme, with Rufus’s beautiful photographs perfectly matching the action on each page, the story is easy to follow and moving too. Rufus Finds a Home is a book that children will love to read, while he also educates them on how and why dogs sometimes need a new home.
Quill says: A difficult subject, approached with sensitivity, makes Rufus Finds a Home a wonderful story that children will enjoy and want to read again and again.