Title: The Adventures of Rusty and Ryan
Author: Shari Beth Martin
Major Themes: Dogs
Synopsis: Ryan is lonesome, so he prays for a puppy—and God answers his prayer in a surprising way!
I bought The Adventures of Rusty and Ryan a number of years ago. One day when some of the boys were away from home, and the others needed to do a job in the house, they wanted me to read to them as usual. I didn’t want to read the books we’d been reading with everyone present, so I grabbed this one and read several chapters. They loved it, but we never got back to it. Lately, I’ve been reading various books about young children to my four-year-old. He loved hearing these stories!
Ryan is an only child, about six years old. He is lonely and wants a playmate, so he starts praying for a puppy. When one shows up at the door he is sure this is God’s answer to his prayer, but Father puts an ad in the paper anyway to try to find the puppy’s owner. The answer to the ad brings about quite an unexpected turn of events, and Ryan is overjoyed with the result.
Rusty is soon Ryan’s best friend, and they do everything together. Rusty must learn not to chase the neighbor’s cat, and he gets to go to the ocean, on a camping trip, to the zoo, and many other places with Ryan. Along the way, Ryan learns lessons such as being thoughtful of others. This is a delightful book for young children.
No warnings!
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 3 – 4, 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12
Leave a Reply