Buster

My 8 year old daughter LOVED this book. Would recommend

I’m a grown-up whose kids (8, 12) have listened to about 2.5 hours of this on audiobook. Positive: not having much direct exposure to the direct experiences of children with anxiety, I found myself learning a lot about their perspective and struggle. Negative: how is this audiobook more than 6 hours? Both the child anxiety story and the dog trial are proceeding at glacial pace. As the consenting adult, I can’t do the dog puns and preteen anxiety for four more hours. There’s a lot to like, but this story needed to be cut in half.

I loved this book! I loved the relationship between dog and human as Buster helps Tonio learn about and start to tackle his anxiety. I am a middle school librarian, and I can’t wait to add this book to our library.

Buster lopes along like a hound on a mission, sniffing out friends, fur, and fun to help his boy, Tonio, learn some life lessons I wish I could have learned at that age. Caleb’s writing is welcoming to all ages, and he takes the time to make sure the reader can truly understand what Tonio is going through and how anxiety can manifest in countless ways. Thanks to the research he’s obviously put in, Caleb guides Buster’s paws to dig up new tools to help his human see the world around him in a new light.From dogs playing trading card games, to dogs using computers, to humans being oblivious to all of it, this book is a must-read for families and people with opposable thumbs. I’m sure the canine-friendly version is coming soon.

11 yo daughter loved it