The "Tail" of Rugby Jones: A Rascal's Journey from Disability to Ability [Paperback]

It's not often I want to write a review but this one screams out for it. I have spent a lot of time looking at the available books for special needs kids. Either the books are aimed at the parents to inform them about the child's illness or at the kids telling them how to cope with their illness. What they don't do is entertain.

Author Broome is clearly smitten with her dog Rugby Jones and has written an engaging book that extols the virtues of bucolic life and the sudden perils that can irrevocably change it, whether for human or canine. What I just love about the book is that it creates a real hero who happens to be handicapped. Nothing appears to get Rugby Jones down and he exudes a positivity about his life that makes you forget how sad his paralysis could have been. It's a wonderful message for special needs kids to read and absorb about themselves. They may have a handicap but they don't have to define themselves by it. Rugby Jones certainly doesn't! I also loved the photography in the book - very professional and, in many cases, quite beautiful. Kids will love the dogs, horses and cat pictures -- parents and grandparents as well, I think.

Rugby Jones is a plucky little guy. It's exciting that Broome is planning on a series of books. I think kids are going to identify with this one very well.

My son and I have been waiting for a book like this. My son has autism and can't stay interested in a story for very long but this one is different. It's entertaining, funny, educational and inspiring. Told from a dog's mouth, it offers the importance of taking pride in who you are no matter what happens to you in your life. This book, which is filled with wonderful pictures of horses, dogs,cats, foxes and raccoons is so uplifting. The hero is Rugby Jones and although he ended up in a wheelchair, he demonstrates how wonderful life can be if you just have the right attitude. I will be purchasing this book for my nieces and nephews for Christmas.

I have two autistic nephews and I have been looking a long time for a book that would hold their attention spans and interest level. The Tail of Rugby Jones was a pleasant surprise. The author wisely wrote it in the dog's voice and the kids love his story of farm life and how he copes with his handicap. Personally, it's nice to have a book that is so positive and uplifting. I enjoy reading it to them now that I've developed a "Rugby" voice of my own.
For a little book it has many good photographs of animals that the kids (and I) enjoy.

One of the things I like best about the book is how positively it deals with being handicapped. The kids suffer a lot of problems at school because of their disability. But Rugby Jones just keeps going and stays upbeat about everything. It's a good message for these kids to hear.

I think this will become one of those books that lasts a lifetime -- later on in their lives, my nephews will remember their uncle reading them Rugby Jones.

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