The Trouble with Tuck

     When I was rereading this book, I noticed that there is a trend with the books I have chosen. They involve animals. The subject of animals is very prominent in many children's books because they can relate to them or know what they are, especially dogs and cats. If you have these animals in your books, children usually will be very intrigued because it makes them think of their own pets. Pets seemed to be a topic that many children chose to write about it when we visited the writing workshops.
     In this book by Theodore Taylor, Tuck is a dog who is suffering from losing his eye sight. At first, his owners do not realize that is what happening, but they eventually catch on. The main character, a 13 year old girl named Helen, is very disheartened when she learns this about Tuck. She feels an empty feeling in her stomach. This made me think about when one of my dogs was starting to lose his eye sight. I was young, about 7 years old, when it happened with my dog and I still remember that feeling Helen is feeling. She wants to believe that nothing is wrong, but she cannot ignore what she is seeing. He is running into things and not acting like he used to.
     Kids really love to talk about their pets and it is a good way to get them to open up. I never realized how many books I read about animals when I was little. Also, they are the ones I want to revisit as an adult. It just goes to show that when we relate to something, we are more likely to remember it.