How To Look For A Lost Dog is a heartwarming & super adorable story about a young Autistic girl called Rose & her faithful four-legged companion, Rain. The morning after a horrific storm, Rose wakes up to find Rain gone after her father let her out & never bothered to get her back in again; this kick-starts Rose’s mission to find her dog, no matter how difficult it might be.

Please accept my apologies if I unconsciously cause offence with any of the wording used in this review.

This book contains animal abuse & ableist language.

How To Look For A Lost Dog is a story that tells the reader exactly how to do just that; main character Rose comes up with a very clever & detailed plan on how she is going to find her best friend after a horrific storm turns her life & town upside down. I loved reading about how Rose decided what may help her find Rain & she came up with some ideas that I don’t think I would’ve thought of at her age (like drawing circles on maps); plus, she was so brave to make so many phone calls to total strangers! There’s no way I could have done that at 11-years-old. Rose is clever, kind & honest, & she made a fabulous main character. Author Ann M. Martin also did a brilliant job at portraying an Autistic character & it was was immediately obvious (to me, at least) that Rose was Autistic.

I’ve said that this book is adorable, & it absolutely is, but it’s also sad in places & I cried more than once. Rose’s dad really struggles to cope with having an Autistic child, & Rose & her father often rely on her uncle to give them respite from one another. Despite certain scenes between Rose & her dad being very upsetting, I appreciated that this part of the story was included because it shows a very sad truth about the relationships Autistic people sometimes have with the people closest to them. There’s also a twist toward the end of the book that really upset, but also surprised, me & Rose’s reaction to the twist highlights just how honest, kind & blooming fantastic she is as a person.

I honestly really loved this book; it told such a sweet tale about the honesty & purity of young Rose & showed that Autistic children are wonderful. There’s a lot of stigma that surrounds Autistic children – I work with Autistic children/young adults & some of the people I work with even make fun of the people we look after (yes, it makes me feel sick) – so I love anything that helps to challenge that stigma. Books like this are so important, especially when they’re aimed at educating young children about how being different doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

I said this at the start of my review but I want to apologise again if anything in this review has offended anyone – despite working with Autistic children/young adults I’m definitely still working very hard to undo the ableist habits that society has forced upon me by learning the right ways to say/phrase things.

If you fancy getting yourself a copy of this very cute story you can do so using the links below: if you use the Amazon.co.uk or Book Depository link to buy a copy of this book then I will receive a small fee at no cost to you so please consider doing so.
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery

Unfortunately, & sort of ironically, this book isn’t yet on Audible – which is definitely a shame.