Official Review: Punk Finds a Forever Home by Brenda Loew

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MarisaRose
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Official Review: Punk Finds a Forever Home by Brenda Loew

Post by MarisaRose »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Punk Finds a Forever Home" by Brenda Loew.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Punk Finds a Forever Home by Brenda Loew is a children’s picture book about Punk, an adorable house cat that is abandoned by her family. Forced to survive on the city streets, Punk is scared and alone and misses the comforts of her family and home. Punk has to learn how to survive on her own in a place where cats sometimes go missing at night. Her plight is made all the more difficult when she gives birth to three kittens. Punk wants to be a good mom and take care of her little ones as best she can. Luckily, Punk and her kittens are rescued by friendly firemen. But what will happen to Punk and her kittens now? Will Punk ever know the love of a forever home?

Punk's story is straightforward and educational. The author does a great job describing the process rescued animals must go through, like the importance of proper vet care. Additionally, the way the narrative is written, the author successfully ensures an emotional reaction from her audience. For example, the repetition of Punk’s fears about being abandoned and never finding a forever home will endear readers to her plight. Similarly, the humans portrayed in this book are good-natured, caring people that children will look up to and want to emulate.

Similar to the straightforward plotting, the language used in this story is simplistic, and early readers should have no problem reading the narrative themselves. However, the font used in the book appears very small in the kindle edition; I often had trouble deciphering the text and had to zoom in drastically, which took away from experiencing the illustrations and narrative together. For that reason, this book may be easier to enjoy in physical form.

The illustrations in this children’s book are bright and captivating; they take up full pages and include lots of detail to hold the attention of youngsters. However, the details are not so overwhelming that readers will be easily distracted. Each illustration clearly focuses on the event and characters described in the corresponding narrative on the page, making this book a great tool for early readers to help them understand the story, whether or not they can actually read the words on the page.

Punk Finds a Forever Home is a wonderful introduction to animal rescue. The story will help youngsters understand the importance of rescuing animals and create feelings of empathy towards animals. Any family with pets or those planning to adopt pets, and adults that simply want to teach their children about empathy, should consider reading this book to their children. Given the simplistic nature of the narrative and storyline, this book would be most suitable for adults to read to children aged three to seven. As an avid supporter of animal rescue and raising empathetic children, I rate this book a strong 4 out of 4 stars.

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Punk Finds a Forever Home
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lydiasmoot21
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Post by lydiasmoot21 »

I like that the story is in perspective of cats. As a cat lover I already like this book.
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Laura Ungureanu
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Post by Laura Ungureanu »

Nice review, I would like to read the book, even if I am not a child. I am sure the book helps children empathize more with animals. Children with a bad education sometimes are not so good around animals, sometimes hurting them. I heard a lot of stories from friends that hurt a pet when they were young and they are sorry now, but a good education about animals then could have been enough to stop them from hurting the animals. I hope this book helps kids see animals as more then just living things.
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Post by Manang Muyang »

What a novel idea to use a pregnant cat as protagonist! I am glad to hear that the story teaches empathy and encourages animal rescue. Kids need these lessons; even adults need them too.
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Post by cpru68 »

Sounds like a good one! It’s nice to read about a children’s book that has proper language and grammar along with nice illustrations. I see so many children’s books that have a strong message and storyline but fall apart on some element such as proper punctuation or simplicity of words for whatever age group it’s gesred toward. Great job on this review!
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Post by Libs_Books »

This sounds like a lovely little book, but I agree you'd probably want a printed version to share with children.
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Post by Kemunto lucy »

Home is always the best place to be. This is a story of hope and it has a happy ending. It is also a good book for the kids. Thank you for the nice review. My sibling is going enjoyed this book.
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Post by Ginnamassa19 »

This book seems like a good story to read to children--perhaps as a bedtime story? XD As a volunteer at a cat shelter, this book has my interest and I'd consider picking it up as a present for younger readers! Thank you for your review, I found it really helpful :)
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Post by gen_g »

I love that the narrative perspective is that of a cat's, as it reminds me of the book that I read and reviewed recently, whose narrative perspective is that of a shelter dog helping an autistic child. Thank you for your lovely review!
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Post by kfwilson6 »

Sounds like this book might also help children to realize they should appreciate that they are a part of a loving home.

Poor Punk. Three babies to care for and no home. I hate to see homeless animals and just don't understand how anyone could leave a pet, that is their responsibility, out on the street somewhere.
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Post by Phermone »

sounds like a nice book to share with a young child, as an animal lover myself I am glad the author took such care when describing the fears that puck is going through. Funny enough my family currently has a cat we adopted who still gives us the cold shoulder I can only imagine what she has been through. Thanks for the review, it clears illustrates why this is such a nice book to have.
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