“The direct storytelling has an appealing cadence, and the simple sentences and vocabulary are well within the grasp of newly independent readers.”
Journey of a Bookseller review
“If you have had dogs or like dogs, this book will appeal to you.”
Publishers Weekly Review
“An endearing tale of a mother dog and her good-natured puppies, set on a farm cozily evoked in the artist’s spot illustrations.”
Kirkus (starred review)
“Using simple and sturdy phrases that belie the story’s sophistication, Salamon gives the journey-as-a-vehicle-to–self-discovery theme a poignancy that avoids schmaltz (no mean feat with puppies as protagonists). Weber’s primitive-style black-and-white illustrations add their own emotive power.”
Mom Read It Review
“Mutt’s Promise is an unexpected book. It starts in a most idyllic setting, only to move pretty quickly into some heavy social issues. While the idea of migrant worker families is lightly touched on, it’s there, showing that this is not something that died out with The Grapes of Wrath. The heavier topic here is animal cruelty, most notably the kind of cruelty that takes place in puppy mills. Luna, a spunky little female pup, also deals with crushing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder from her time in the puppy mill. All of these topics are handled in an age-appropriate manner, framed within the animals’ story and using vocabulary that doesn’t try to sugar-coat what happens in these places, but makes the situation comprehensible to younger readers.”