Title: Athena the Brave
Author: Nina M. Kelly
Illustrator: Herma Edwards
Publisher: Miriam Laundry Publishing Company
ISBN: 978-1-990107-68-9
Pages: 38
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Reviewed by: Barbra Miller
Hollywood Book Reviews
In this lovely book of personified dogs talking to one another, readers are introduced to Athena – a snow white Pomeranian with adorable button-eyes and often wearing a bright yellow bandana as a collar. One day, Athena didn’t want to go to the dog park with her owner Barry, as she always loves to play with her friends at the park. This perplexed Barry, yet eventually, they both went to the dog park.
It is there Athena sees Brutus the Doberman, and just as his name suggests, he was a brute and a bully. Brutus took Athena’s bandana and hid it in the poop-trash, and Athena was sad about not having her collar. Brutus also picked on other dogs, for example, Maggie Pie, a small terrier who put her tail between her legs in fear of Brutus.
The Olympus Dog Park held an annual race to see which dog ran the fastest, but Athena thought it wasn’t fun anymore now that Brutus was around. Brutus began name calling and bullying Athena and other dogs, like calling Mondo, a brown and white Shih Tzu born with only three legs “funny looking,” making Mondo cry. The day of the dog race began, and this event is the climax of the story. As it turns out the excitement and unexpected outcome of the events tied together the personalities of the dogs. At the end, as a bit of a spoiler, Athena and Brutus became friends.
Author Nina M. Kelly constructs the quintessential elements of children having stress and anxiety of their own at a play area, due to having to contend with a bully. By using the dogs as characters, the themes of this story are conveyed by dialogue of the animals along with detailed artistic illustrations. Together the text and pictures bring forward a very powerful message to children, making Athena the Brave a book of education of social customs as well as a very entertaining story. These elements work flawlessly together, resulting in a book which should be read by all youngsters at their tender years of growing up. After all, what better ending for these characters is there – than talking dogs overcoming their controversy and eventually becoming good friends.