Lily to the Rescue: The Misfit Donkey

Lily to the Rescue! #6

by W. Bruce Cameron, James Bernardin (Illustrator)

A new addition to the irresistible chapter book series from the New York Times bestselling author of A Dog's Purpose , featuring Lily, a rescue dog who rescues other animals!

Lily lives with her girl, Maggie Rose. Once a stray, Lily was rescued by the kind people at the animal shelter run by Maggie Rose’s mom. Now she has a very important purpose: to rescue other animals in trouble.

A baby donkey tries to make friends with a herd of older donkeys from a neighboring farm, only to be rejected again and again. No one can figure out why--until Lily comes to visit. It's Lily to the rescue!

Don't miss more Lily to the Rescue adventures
Lily to the Rescue
Lily to the Rescue: Two Little Piggies
Lily to the Rescue: The Not-So-Stinky Skunk
Lily to the Rescue: Dog Dog Goose
Lily to the Rescue: Lost Little Leopard

Also available, W. Bruce Cameron's Puppy Tales
Bailey’s Story
Bella's Story
Ellie’s Story
Lily's Story
Max’s Story
Molly’s Story
Shelby’s Story
Toby’s Story

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Animals

128 pages, Paperback

Published February 23, 2021

About the author

I’ve always loved dogs, which puts me in a unique category along with what, maybe two or three billion people?

What’s not to love about an animal who will sit in your living room all day long, waiting for you to get home, and even if you need to work late and then stop for a stress-relieving beverage on your way home, when you unlock that front door, is absolutely overjoyed to see you? How could you not adore an animal who senses when your day is not going well and tries to cheer you up by dumping a sodden tennis ball in your lap?

I was probably 8 years old, playing in the back yard of our house in Prairie Village, KS, when my dad opened the gate and in rushed a 9-week-old Labrador puppy. I fell to my knees and spread my arms and that dog leaped into them as if we had loved each other our whole lives. It’s a scene that shows up in A Dog’s Purpose—a puppy and a boy meeting each other the very first time, both of them full of unrestrained joy.

We named the dog Cammie. She arrived in my life when I was just beginning to connect some of the dots in my memory to make a picture of who I was, forming my identity as a child. I remember every skinned knee and bicycle ride in the context of Cammie, who was always there for me. And I lost her just as I was starting to leave childhood behind, passing on after I’d spent a year in college. That’s Cammie, the dog of my childhood.

Years later I was riding my bicycle in the mountains outside of Pine, CO. A chance decision to bounce down a dirt road led me past a few scattered ranches and one small house near a creek, set back from the road at least 50 yards. A single “woof” from a dog caught my attention, and I braked and stood in the dry, clear air, regarding the dog who had called out to me.

She was on a chain by the house, and a fence stood between us, so I remained on the road even though I could see that the dog, a black lab mix with a crazily active tail, was clearly friendly. I gazed at her and the dog sat, attentive, staring into my eyes exactly the way my first dog, Cammie, used to look at me, really seeing into me.

And that’s when the thought hit me. What if this wonderful dog was Cammie? What if dogs live over and over again, and always remember us?

I dismissed the thought, waved at the dog, and rode away, but days later the idea came back to me. What if?

I’ve been a writer my whole life, but never have I ever written anything as important as A Dog’s Purpose.

I can’t promise you that A Dog’s Purpose will make you love your dog more—how could it do that? But I’ll tell you what a lot of people have told me: after reading A Dog’s Purpose, you’ll never look at your dog the same way again.

Reviews

[Alana Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story's about a Donkey named Burrito and he tries to make friends but he can't! Can Lily save the day?

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: Maggie Rose is my girl. I am her dog. In my opinion, this means we should be together every moment.

Premise/plot: Lily revisits her friends the pigs [whom she met in an earlier book in the series] and meets a new friend, a donkey named Burrito. Burrito is having trouble fitting in/belonging. He's sold...but the other donkeys--older donkeys, don't want anything to do with him at all. Burrito LOVES the pigs from his old place and smells like a pig. Can Lily (who also smells like a pig) help Burrito fit into his new home? And will this lead to a bath???

My thoughts: I do love this series overall. This particular book in the series is fairly uneventful. Bryan, Maggie Rose's brother, goes with Maggie Rose, Lily, and their mom to the farm[s]. Bryan makes a possible new friend and discovers he likes horses. But other than learning that Lily likes to smell horse poop [I could have gone my whole life without needing to know that] not much happens. That being said, Lily is as adorable as ever.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Mr. Cameron’s writing in how he writes from dogs’ perspective. Phrases like the not-dog, almost-dog, and “ pig is a very interesting smell, not like anything else in the world. It’s wonderfully powerful and musty. Once you’ve smelled a pig, you’ll never forget it.” Definitely not a human perspective on the smell of pigs!
As mentioned in other reviews the brother’s best friend moving parallels the little donkey’s story which brought another level of richness and empathy to the story. I really appreciated this.
For an adult this series are quick delightful reads and I’m sure children really enjoy them as well.

[Deidre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been reading this series with my niece as she is learning to read. When we started, she was just reading Maggie Rose’s dialogue. Now she reads that of all the kid characters as well. Her capabilities have grown past sentences and into paragraphs. I’m quite proud of her!
This book starts with Bryan being sad about his friend moving away. Lily’s thoughts are more repetitive than normal, and the donkey isn’t really a misfit (poor choice of title). My niece kinda just wanted to power through and finish, but not in a super engaged way.
So, still cute, but not one of the kid’s favorite in the series.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one much better than the previous one in the series. I liked how Bryan’s issue with needing to make friends fit in with Burrito’s story about missing his best friend. It felt like since the issue of Burrito needing a place to live was more in-depth, the story had better coherence. Super cute!

[Sydney Dornseif]

Cute book would recommend for younger readers!

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bryan's friend is moving away and he is quite sad, Maggie Rose and Lily look to help him and a young donkey. Cute read!