My Book Review: My Buddy by Audrey Osofsky Terrence R. Bomar Cohort 5

Summary A young boy with muscular dystrophy tells the story about him and his helpful service dog named Buddy. He tells how great of a relationship he and Buddy have while mentioning the difficult times they had to get it there. The story displays the young boys need to be treated like other kids his age. He ends up gaining confidence and happiness as his partner Buddy assists him and become his best friend.

The Good Points The book provides a positive story of a friendship and bond between a dog and his owner. It shows how a dog is used as assistive technology or as an assistive tool to help a individual that has a disability. The story shows the benefits of having an assisting tool or assistive technology as Buddy's owner states how the companionship of Buddy encouraged him to eventually go places and feel accepted by others. The book tells the story of how a boy with a disability never gave up as he worked to train a dog even when it became difficult.

The Concerning Points The book can give readers or children a negative impression as the owner mentions that he’d get angry, yell, and would cry while trying to teach Buddy to obey his commands. The book can give readers or children another negative impression as the book displays one picture that shows Buddy’s owner yelling at Buddy with Buddy looking sad because of it. The book provided an illustration of Buddy and his owner in the shower. Many people may view semi-nude characters as a reason to band a book.

The Interesting Points Buddy wear’s a sign that says “Working Dog Don’t Touch” because interestingly, he is always on duty though many people may not see it that way. The book never gives readers the name of Buddy’s owner. It is as if they the author wants us to think that the owner could possibly be any one of us someday or someone we know. Buddy wore a blue and yellow backpack everywhere he went while the job with his owner. The backpack serves a pack that holds his owners supplies for the day; whether it be the owners lunch or some of his clothes.

Classroom Lesson Uses This book could be used in Social Studies to get K-1 students to understand the similarities between themselves and others despite existing differences by having them make a comparison list about themselves and main character of the book.  It can used during a second or third grade reading lesson with the theme of the lesson focusing on disabilities. Students would work with a comprehension strategies (predicting and inferring) to figure out the theme of the book as it is read to them while making connections to their own experiences with disabilities as well. The book could also serve as a powerful reading source during a Tolerance Unit. No matter the grade level, the book can support and target important issues such as friendship, diversity, and emotions.

Reflection The book was a easy read and provided great water colored illustrations for my students to follow. I saw a sign of concern and care for the main character and his dog as I read the book aloud. When I asked one student how he felt or what he learned from this book, he replied “it must be tough to be in a wheelchair, we must be good to them.” This proved that the book showed my students how the wants and needs of an individual that is impaired can be accepted by everyone and how people with disabilities can be treated like others with the help of “mans best friend”. I made sure my students know that we all can benefit from some type of assistance, the book served as a great tool to as it helped them generate ideas for assistive technology that each and every one of us could use.