Book Review: Two's Company (guide dog, boy, girl, dog walk)

Two’s Company: Every Dog Needs a Friend! (Puppy Patrol #31 of 46) by Jenny Dale (Scholastic, 2003, 106 pages, $3.99, grades 3-5)

Here we have a new kid in school with an older sister Charlie who is blind and has a new service dog Chloe. The mom is overprotective of her daughter and doesn’t think the guide dog is reliable, while her son feels very left out, particularly since, due to the move, he had to give up his own dog.

We find service dog Jasmine living alone in a retirement home: her handler has just died so she is moved temporarily in King Street Kennel, the boarding kennel owned by the family of Neil, 12, and his sister Emily, 11 – two very resourceful British kids who actually get along! Jasmine herself, a Labrador, is nearly of retirement age herself. (Another sub-plot involves how Dad falls and injures his back, thus being unable to work at the kennel.)

Old Mrs. Atkinson had to give up her dog for financial reasons but recently came into an inheritance so was considering another dog – but not a rowdy puppy at her age!

Author Jenny Dale has the ability to weave in a major plot and a couple of minor ones but leaves you guessing for a while as to which one is the crux of the story. Eventually, all plots arrive at a rather satisfying conclusion as Neil and Emily manage to teach other kids and even adults a few lessons in living graciously. Adults apologize, kids make new friends, and it is the kids who teach the adults (and other kids) a thing or two.

What is a Guide Dog?

The reader will learn so much about what guide dogs can do for a blind person, much of which is based upon trust between dog and person. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (the school for future guide dogs) happens to be located in the next town over from our young people who eventually organize a fundraiser for the school – a 12-mile dog walk!

But not all is entirely heavenly in the end. There may be a partially unsolved minor plot that nevertheless is almost concluded or at least improved, such as the case of serious sibling rivalry.

The best quote, on page 53, is spoken by Charlie: “Maybe I don’t always want the most important thing about me to be that I’m blind.” And that may just be the most important take-home lesson in Two’s Company - besides letting go. There is so much in this short little children’s book to think about. . . . and who are the “two” in Two’s Company?

DogEvalshas reviewed other books by Jenny Dale over the years (Trick or Treat, Top Dog, About Charlie. Puppy School, . . . , and Tug of Love) and Two’s Company is just as good if a bit more complex and grown-up in its treatment for both boys and girls.