Publisher's Synopsis
When an autistic child forms an exciting deep bond with a small dog who has thumbs on his paws, the two experience adventures together. They discover that their unique conditions impact them with surprising advantages as well as disadvantages. The book's central characters are Elliot, a "deformed" Shetland Sheepdog born with opposable thumbs on his front paws, and Joseph, a nine-year-old boy with a congenital level on the Autism Spectrum. The series is told entirely from Elliot's POV as he watches Joseph through his daily struggles, while capturing the parallels between Elliot and Joseph's respective conditions. Elliot cannot run or perform other "normal" canine tasks as readily as most dogs, but he excels at things that other dogs struggle to do. Joseph struggles with social skills, but his condition helps him to outperform the neurologically normal at other tasks. Autism is portrayed not as a defect to be overcome, but as a trait offering both advantages and disadvantages. Each of the show's episodes will follow Joseph and Elliot learning something valuable and new, as seen through the intelligent eyes of a sweet and lovable little dog. Thumbs UP! is a made for television series.
