Andy is an adorable children’s book that tells the heartwarming story of a dog who starts out as the runt of the litter and learns to overcome both his size and his fears. It’s a sweet, encouraging story for young readers with a great message about resilience and courage. The only drawback for me was that on a few pages, the text was difficult to read because it blended into the darker background. Overall, though, it’s a charming book with a lovable main character.

A wonderful book highlighting the incredible job service dogs perform for individuals who need them. Sweet, informative and endearing read! Great way to introduce and explain service dogs and their important work/role to children!

Recommend-O-Meter: Yes!

I’ve always been fascinated by the abilities of service dogs in their line of work, which made reading this book an absolute treat! Andy’s growth is portrayed very well, and my heart ached for him during his tough moments. Overall, I really love how informative the story is while still maintaining a good plot and loveable characters. Plus, being about a service dog means that it also showcases people with disabilities for young kids, which is always a plus for me.

I’d never watched the film this book was based on, but it works perfectly fine as a standalone. Super heartwarming and absolutely a great find for kids!

Andy is the only pup left out of the litter, he’s such a sweet pup, trying to find his place in life.

This story was so beautiful! I definitely think this is a great way to educate kids about service animals, inhaler, &
people who are different than them.

I enjoyed seeing Andy overcome his fears and find his way in being a hero. The illustration was AMAZING.

I was thinking, I don’t know what age this is towards, you just wanna make sure this can hold their attention span, because it does have lengthy sentences.

Thank you NetGalley & John Kelly for giving me the opportunity to read this story.

Support dogs rock!

I've known a few, so I was immediately attracted to the book. Well, the adorable face on the cover didn't hurt. Andy is an inspiration to us all to work hard to overcome our fears and do what we were always meant to do. In Andy's case, overcome being injured by a bicycle running over his tail....ouch!..... and then learning to serve a wheelchair bound human. It isn't easy but he does it.

The illustrations are beautiful, almost lifelike at times, and show Andy's expressions well. The smallest of his litter, he already faced rejection due to size but support dogs come in all breeds and sizes. Kudos to the author and others for highlighting the contributions of our furry friends to those in need. There's a section at the end that details their contributions and those who work with them to make them a success. I understand there's a film although, alas, I have no info on it.

Bottom line, it's a sweet, powerful story. Readers unfamiliar with service dogs will emerge with a better understanding of not just the role service dogs play but how hard they (and their humans) work to make it all work. I'm not quite sure dogs dream of being heroes but they do strive to please us, so maybe that is the same thing in their minds. Thanks to #TheCollectiveBookStudio and #NetGalley for allowing me this early peek at this adorable story. I wanted somehow to reach through the page and scratch Andy's ears (with his human's permission, of course) and tell him what a wonderfully good dog he is.

Andy is about the runt of a litter who goes on to become a service dog, despite some setbacks. I liked the idea of showing kids the purpose of service dogs and also overcoming challenges; however I don't think that they would have placed a dog with trauma related to wheels with someone who uses a wheelchair. The text was a little small, but the illustrations were very cute. This would be fitting for younger kiddos as a read aloud.

Thanks to The Collective Book Studio and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

This is an amazing book about Andy, who is trained to become a service dog. The story is so cute and heartwarming, and the illustrations are amazing. I would definitely recommend it. Not just yo those children who need service dogs, but to everyone. It's important for all kids to learn how to interact with these animals, that they know not to try to pet them (not that they should be petting strange dogs anyway).

Thank you NetGalley and John Kelly for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I requested this book to read and review with my toddlers, who are working on a 1,000 unique book before kindergarten challenge.

LOVE the story and idea of teaching children about the power of service dogs, they are amazing. I have never seen the movie so my thoughts are solely based on the text. It was too long for my 4 year olds though, I had to summarize some of the passages for them because they were getting squirrely. Not sure the intended target market, probably a bit older than 4. My only real feedback is for some reason, the art was just not my favorite. I know a studio did it but some pages, the dogs eyes are just so oddly big and had a weird AI feel (even though I know it's not AI, I've just gotten used to seeing it lately). Overall, I really appreciated the section at the end with the informative passages about services dogs and their roles.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to view your work.
Valkyrie

The protagonist is Andy, but the entire story about Andy's life is told in the third person by Andy's mom which makes it a little confusing because the story feels more like Andy is telling it since it's from his point of view, until the reader gets thrown off by "I" and "he". I like the idea about introducing the life and purpose of a service dog to children in a story format. My favorite part of the story, the climax, is when Andy overcomes his childhood fear to become a "hero" because he realizes that his fears are minor when it comes to saving someone. This could translate into a lesson or moral for readers.

THIS WAS SO SWEET AND CUTE. Made me emotional!!! Really well written, well executed and overall amazing. Definitely recommended!!

I just loved Andy ♥️ This was such a cute and informative book for children to learn about service dogs in a kid friendly way. The illustrations are so cute! Thank you to The Collective Book Studio and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was such a sweet story! The illustrations were beautiful and it was such a great way to teach children about the importance of service dogs. Some pages were a bit busy with longer paragraphs, but it’s perfect for 6-8 year olds. Overall though, I definitely recommend this heartwarming story.

Thank you The Collective Book Studio for the arc. This review will be shared with retailers on release day.

Andy is a very cute, and little kid friendly story. The illustrations are beautiful! The story is easy to follow, though may be a bit long for the under-5 demographic.
My 6 year old enjoyed listening to Andy’s story and seeing the photos at the end of the real Andy.
We love non-fiction picture books.

I was excited to receive this book because I have a service dog myself. The story was cute and had a good underlying meaning. However, I feel like the pages felt a big busy and some had too many words for a kid on it. Also, some sentences were either written weird or did not make sense.

This book MELTED me. I fell in love with Andy and so did my son. He has wanted to read this one every night!

My nephew loves all things dogs, and this one does not disappoint. Pixar-level artwork meets a heartwarming story. Highly recommend.

This was a heartwarming story! Andy was so adorable! Puppies make everything better. I was a little confused about what age group this would be suited for. I read it with my 4 year old. She loved the pictures but there were some longer paragraphs. A great way to teach kids about service animals.

This book showcases the important work that service dogs perform. It is probably best suited for 5-8 year olds based on th elength and complexity of the text. that's not to say that the book is complicated, but that the plot has several components that take us from Andy as a pup to Andy as a fully fledged hero. In between, there are tales of his boisterous nature, an accident, training, and eventual matching with a companion, that may be too much for younger children to take in.

At times, the language felt a little cluny, and always the best colour for accessibility on the page, However, I think the overall message in the tale overrides these factors. There is a lso a lovely variety of images to be explored and discussed, as well as an opportunity to discuss disability and respiratory illness.

Andy: A Dog's Tale, by John Kelly, is a touching story about a service dog's journey from runt to hero. The topic (understanding service dogs and their training) is a noble one, and the storyline is engaging. I'm glad to see stories that help children become familiar with the role that service dogs play in our world. The illustrations are cute, and Andy is a lovable hero.

The writing style was a mix between simplistic vocabulary for younger kids and longer passages for 2-3rd graders. I found this off-putting. The illustrations and focus on Andy's journey to become a service dog felt like it is geared toward preschool - 1st grade. But the longer passages are aimed at the attention level of 1-3rd grade. I think 3rd graders would find this story too young for them.

In the end, Andy: A Dog's Tale is a noble undertaking, but much like the pup Andy, it needs more work.

This review is given for an ARC from netgally.

Cute story that introduces/explains the world of service dogs as well as teaching life lessons of perseverance, overcoming fears, and strength of being yourself. There's a bonus in the back of the book that explains the different types of "service" type dogs and the aid they provide.