#RBRT Read and Review: Muffy & Valor: A True Story by Karl Beckstrand, Brandon Rodriguez

·         Title: Muffy and Valor: A True Story

·         Author: Karl Beckstrand

·         Illustrator: Brandon Rodriguez

·         Published: 2017
       Muffy and Valor: A True Story is an illustrated children’s book based on the real-life story from the author’s childhood about two dogs named Muffy and Valor.

Image via Amazon.

Muffy and Valor: A True Story

Muffy and Valor: A True Story is an illustrated children’s book about two dogs.  The story especially excels in the character development of Muffy, a small dog who lives in fear of other dogs after she is seriously injured by a dog bite. The book successfully creates a heartwarming ending about the importance of friendship and trust that I enjoyed discussing with the four-year-old with whom I read the book.

The plot has a clear and well organized progression.  The opening page read awkwardly for me: “[Muffy] really loves her friend Carlos (almost as much as she loves cheese).” Afterwards the rest of the story read quite smoothly. The illustrations are unusually dark for a children’s book.  I read the Kindle edition and had trouble seeing detail in the dog’s expressions.  The four year old who I read the book with enjoyed seeing all the illustrations of the dogs and liked talking about the emotions on the dog’s faces.

The events in the story follow true events that happened during the author’s childhood. The book is marketed as nonfiction, but the fact that the events in the story actually happened did not enhance my reading of the story. Emotions and cognition are attributed to dogs in the story, so “Based on a True Story” would be a more accurate description for Muffy and Valor rather than “A True Story.” Overall, this is another solid piece of children’s literature from Karl Beckstrand. As always, he includes a positive moral lesson in a well written story. 

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Muffy and Valor is available to buy from Amazon UK or Amazon.com.

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Thanks for reading! This is another #RBRT review.  Thanks to Karl Beckstrand for sending me a free e-book to read. If you enjoyed this review, please share or follow for more book reviews.

-Brittany