Second Chance Sam: King of the Junkyard is a wonderful story about a senior dog who finally gets to go to his forever home! Second Chance Sam is a stand alone book from the Santa’s Dog series by JoAnn Sky. Santa’s Dog is the first book in the series. The second book, Carol’s Quest for Courage will be available in hardcover at the end of this month (October 2019)! We absolutely love these books!
About the Author
“JoAnn Sky is an award winning author and two time Golden Heart finalist who writes children’s stories as well as young adult and adult contemporary romance. She’s combined her love of books and dogs in her children’s books. She hopes you enjoy reading them as mush as she has enjoyed creating them. Originally from the Midwest, JoAnn currently lives in northern Nevada with her family and three crazy rescue dogs. www.joannsky.com”
About the Story
In Second Chance Sam: King of the Junkyard, Sam is a senior dog at the shelter. He’s been waiting a long time for someone to adopt him. Sam doesn’t understand why people come in and take the puppies home and not him. He wonders if something is wrong with him. After all, he does kind of walk with a slight limp. He thinks maybe that is why?
Finally an older man comes in to the shelter and sees Sam. He walks with a cane and thinks he and Sam would make the perfect pair. Sam agrees! He is so excited to go finally go to his forever home. He imagines and hopes for a whole family and a big house and yard to play in. But then they drive up to a small house the size of a shack. There isn’t a front yard. But he does see a big junk yard with lots of junk. Sam is confused at first.
The old man tells Sam that there are all kinds of treasures that can be found in the yard. People come to look for what they need and he helps them find it. So Sam quickly catches on. He even finds a wheel for a little boy that he needed for his cart. All the people that come by pet him. He also makes friends with some of the other animals that have made the yard their forever home! Sam quickly learns that not everything has to be shiny and new. Even things can have a second chance, just like him!
Story Format and Illustrations
I love the story format of Second Chance Sam. It is written in a rhyming verse. Because of that, I think it’s great for younger kids who have the story read aloud to them. It flows really well and makes it easy for them to follow along. I also think it’s wonderful for early readers too. The illustrations are just darling. We love the full page illustrations that brings the reader right into the story. There is a little information about the illustrator below.
About the Illustrator
Second Chance Sam is illustrated by John Tatulli.
“John Tatulli is an illustrator with an Associates degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He can wear many hats when it comes to his artwork, ranging from comic/cartoon work, story boarding, and character development. His passion is creating emotionally striking illustrations and kid friendly artwork. www.johntatulli.com“.
And that he does!
Final Thoughts…
We really loved Second Chance Sam: King of the Junkyard. We fully support pet adoption and believe it’s best to adopt and not shop. I really like this story because it reminds me of all those Senior dogs in shelters that aren’t adopted as quickly as younger dogs are. We adopted our dog, Oscar almost a year ago. He wasn’t a Senior dog but he wasn’t a puppy either. He’s just over about 3 years old now. I remember seeing his information at the shelter about how he was there for 45 days. It always tugs at my heartstrings!
I also love this story because it’s also about second chances. Not everything has to be shiny and new. Even old things and old dogs can find love and be loved. We really enjoyed the story about how Sam found friends, a purpose, and of course – love!
Buy It: Be sure to visit Dogs & Books online. You can purchase Second Chance Sam, Santa’s Dog and very soon, Carol’s Quest for Courage! Also, be sure to check out my book reviews on all three of these wonderful books! Another amazing thing about Dogs & Books is that they donate a portion of their book sales to charities that support animal rescue causes and shelter animals.
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Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. However, I received free product mentioned in this post from the book publisher for my use and review. All opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway or collaboration with DustinNikki Mommy of Three, please email Nicole Anderson at danderson35 (at) columbus (dot) rr (dot) com.
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