There are as many genres of books as there are readers. Life To The Max is hardly a children’s book, yet there are aspects of it that I thought might appeal to the younger reader.
With that in mind, I decided to experiment. I have a niece, Maggie Coulon, she is only 9 years old, but she is smarter than many adults. I asked Maggie to read the book, and here is what she had to say:
What I Think by Maggie Coulon
I think that Life To The Max was a terrific book, but I also think it was sad. The dog was very sweet compared to what the story said, it did not deserve to die. Some people might really like this book or some will think otherwise. I think what was sad is that the dog had a disease, but even more sad Bernie and Max died.
Mom and dad were really sweet to the dogs, even Amber. They didn’t care how much the vet cost, plus they got him from a center twice! And if I was an owner I would want to be like them.
About halfway through the book Maggie looked at me and asked, “I wonder who really wrote this book because I know it wasn’t the dog.”
Did Maggie get it right? She is only 9 years old. Maggie does not know what a maxim is. But she certainly knows good from bad.
Robin Reynolds clearly understands the difference between right and wrong. Life To The Max is one of those books that you pick up, you read, and most importantly you think about it. I give Robin high praise for having the guts, grit and sheer determination to put this book together. Dogs maybe labeled as mans best friend, yet often times they are thrown to the garbage when times get tough.
Life To The Max is a delightful, but maybe too short celebration of our canine friends. My niece may not understand what the word maxim means, she may not understand complex concepts (I’ll bet a buck she does), but she does however understand good from bad. It was interesting to get Maggie’s input. She is not as worldly wise as us older folks are, yet maybe she brings something to the table that we do not have? I am old and jaded, my views are set in stone.
Author Robin Reynolds has done a fine job with this book, she has had a long and industrious career writing, but I do believe this is her first foray into this kind of book and a very fine job she has done.
Life To The Max should appeal to kids of all ages, I am 52 and I liked it!
You can get your own copy from Amazon, well you can’t have mine, I promised Maggie she could have it!
Simon Barrett and Maggie Coulon
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4 users commented in " Book Review: Life To The Max – Maxims For A Great Life by a dog named Max by Robin Reynolds "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDear Simon and Maggie,
I am the author of “Life to the Max” and I want to thank you for your thoughtful review of our book. Maggie, I wrote this book when my son was about your age as a way to help him (and my husband and me, too!) deal with losing Max. What I wanted this story to do is celebrate all the fun and funny things about Max, but also to enable families to talk with each other about some of life’s biggest challenges like illness, aging and death. I know these things are not easy to talk about, but they are part of life and it sounds like the book fostered a good conversation with your uncle! I also wanted to show what a difference a great attitude can make because that’s what Max taught us. No matter what happened, he was always happy! I know some of the things in the book may be understood a little differently by adults, but Maggie, you got all the important stuff and that’s what counts. (Kids today are SO smart!)
If you want to follow more stuff that’s going on with Max (in spirit), me and our book, you can visit our blog at and if any of your friends want to buy their own copy, when they buy the book on my website at , 25% goes to support animal rescue. In addition, if you or anyone you know, has or had a dog named Max, I am working on a sequel that will include wisdom from other dogs named Max. You can submit stories and pictures on our website.
Thanks again, Simon and Maggie, and remember to live Lie to the MAX!
Darn, a typo! I am human!! That’s Life to the MAX! Remember to live Life to the MAX!
[...] was invited to review Life To The Max, a short, and in many ways very sad little tale about a [...]
I am sorry I haven’t wrote a while.It’s just my
Uncle Simon and my aunt moved away.But you can write me at yahoo.com. All I wanted to say was hi and have a good day.
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