Home to Stay: A Home for Dixie by Emma Jackson

Once upon a time there were three puppies.... They were sisters, but they didn't have a mother or a father, and they didn't have a home.

Meanwhile, not far away, lived a girl named Emma. For as long as she could remember, she had wanted a dog.

It doesn't take ESP to guess what's going to happen here. After being the responsible owner of a fish named Mariko, a hamster named Pixie, and a guinea Pig named Wilbur, Emma has proved herself worthy of being a dog owner, and her kind parents help her choose the right puppy at Aunt Mary's Doghouse, a private dog rescue facility. The puppy chooses Emma by jumping into her lap, and Emma names the soulfully-eyed pup Dixie.

That first day is wonderful, but when night comes, Dixie begins to whimper with loneliness in her crate in the kitchen and winds up sleeping on the floor of Emma's room. Puppy fun and puppy disasters follow, but Dixie quickly becomes one of the family as she grows.

At first Emma thought they were giving Dixie a new life, but Dixie has given something wonderful to her family, too.

A Home for Dixie: The True Story of a Rescued Puppy, illustrated with charming photographs of this ungainly mutt puppy and her empathetic and proud human friend, is a sunny but realistic look at the process of puppy adoption for young first-time owners.

The book puts in a well-timed plea for adoption from well-run shelters, with a portion of the purchase price going to the support of Aunt Mary's Doghouse. Appended information about dog rescue facilities and advice for a successful homecoming makes this book a great gift for a prospective dog owner.