Thanks to Nicki

Lovely book to follow the initial Nicki book. Indeed, you would not want to read the first without the second. Good learning for girls regarding helping working with service dogs...

Thanks To Nicki By Ann Howard Creel Illustrated by Doren Ben-Ami Nicki is doing such a good job training Sprocket, the service dog, that her worst fears may be coming true. Nicki may soon loose the dog she has come to love. It doesn't seem to matter that Sprocket will go to help another child who needs him. Nicki's broken heart can't handle that thought. Nicki's mother is expecting twins and Nicki needs to help more around the house. Meanwhile, her two best friends are competing for her attention. Will her two friends ever get along? Will Nicki's dog Sprocket fail his advanced training and return to her? Will the twins be boys or girls? Or will they have one of each? The last part of the book gives real life stories of children with their assistance dogs. You will also learn about raising canines and CCI Basic Commands. Thanks to Nicki is a beautifully illustrated, heart warming story of a young girl's gift. Jill Ammon Vanderwood, Author Through the Rug Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)

I read American Girl Books growing up and I recently introduced my 5 year old to them. We started out with the Nikki books and doll (and have managed to collect everything associated with the doll). I have to say that she is one of my absolute favorite characters. Her story is not all happily ever after which makes it realistic. I cannot believe people are giving this book less than stellar reviews because it is sad in the end. My daughter and I both were sad when Nikki had to give Sproket up, but training the dog and giving him up to help disabled people is the whole point of the story. I really feel that it showed my daughter that sometimes we have to do things that are hard because it is the right thing to do.

I grew up reading almost every American Girl book I could get my hands on, but I most enjoyed those with the least sugar-coating. They were the ones that taught you that life wasn't going to be perfect yet still re-assured you that it wouldn't end every time something bad happened, the ones that showed you how doing the right thing wasn't always easy. Basically, they were books that tried not to insult your intelligence just because you were not yet an adult, but tried to introduce you to the nature of life and responsibility. "Thanks to Nicki" was just one of those books. It wrapped up the conflicts from the previous story admirably, and even though the way Ms. Creel tied up the issue with Becca and Kris was a touch silly, it still worked well enough. Most of the characters were interesting, flawed but likable--much more like regular people than the cardboard characters you find in many books written for the same age-group. Nicki herself was a gem; while a very good kid, she wasn't impossibly perfect. For Nicki to hope that Sprocket would fail advanced training, even when it would mean he wouldn't be able to help someone who'd really need him, was a selfish and rather ugly desire, yet one that's certainly understandable and something most people could identify with. Also, it was able to show how being selfless can be tough, but in the end, helps a person to grow and become more compassionate towards others (without being too preachy, which is always a plus). In the end, this is one book I'd hold onto and share with any future kids. That being said, the story could be quite slow in parts, with the main conflicts focusing on common, everyday stresses and griefs. Not that this is a bad thing, but if you or your kids are looking for daring escapes or a dire struggle for survival, this might not be the book to read. A touch more humor to lighten the story wouldn't have hurt, either.

I've read a lot of American Girl books because I have easy access to them, and this is one of the best I've read. I found the writing very easy to take. Obviously the books are all aimed at children, but this one seemed a bit more mature than some I've read. Nicki is a likable character. She's a good sister who helps her brother with his homework, and she helps her parents around the ranch, especially when her pregnant mother has to take it easy. When her teacher asks her to be on the school gala planning committee, she says 'yes' to that, too. That's how she becomes friends with Kris. Her best friend, Becca, doesn't like Kris. If she wants to hang out with them both, she needs to get them to get along so they can become a trio. Most important of all, Nicki's training a puppy to be a service dog for a person with special needs. She knows going in that the goal is to send the dog away to help someone, but it ends up being much harder than she could have anticipated. I actually found this part of the book to be very sad. I cried and I would expect most little girls to cry, too. But it's still a very worthwhile book. Highly recommended.