Product Description

Maya's First Rose offers Kosin's deeply moving tribute to the dog he loves for 18 wonderful years. From the days of Maya's youth to the sad and courageous years of her decline, this exhilarating memoir captures the magical bond that can grow between humans and animals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3314922 in Books
• Published on: 1994-10
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 168 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This extraordinary work is the moving chronicle of a man and his dog. Complying with the wish of his new wife more than 20 years ago, composer-pianist Kosins bought a shepherd-boxer puppy, Maya. Five years later, the wife had gone but Maya stayed, gradually becoming the most important companion in the world to the author. Over the years, Maya's hind legs gave out; Kosins built a ramp for her and carried her to favorite places. When she had a stroke, he fed her by hand. Assured by his sympathetic veterinarian that Maya was not in pain, Kosins halted his career to devote all his time to his dog until she died in his arms at the age of 17. Kosin's story is an eloquent, poetic expression of grief. Few pet owners will read it dry-eyed.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-A tender tribute to a loving friend. Kosins describes his relationship with his old and dying dog, Maya, in simple but beautiful prose. He talks directly to readers in plain language. Young people will agonize with him over the decision of whether to euthanize his pet or not. The book should bring solace to those in similar situations, and would be especially helpful to those unwilling to express their grief over such a loss. The afterword includes addresses and phone numbers of companies and agencies that help infirm pets and grieving owners. Creative, complex line drawings enable YAs to visualize Maya and her world and are more effective than the photographs, as they blend so well with the artistic, poetic style of writing. A heartfelt selection.
Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Kosins considers his relationship to his dog, Maya, to have been the most important in his life. When Maya's health began to fail, he chose to adapt his life to her needs, refusing to leave her alone for more than two hours at a time. After Maya died at the age of 18, he grieved deeply and considered her irreplaceable. During the period of more than a year when Kosins withdrew from his normal routine to care for Maya, friends and relatives questioned the reasonableness of this intense commitment to a dog. This book, originally self-published by Kosins, is his attempt to explain his actions and to share his experience with others who might feel a deep connection with their pets and who may be mourning a similar loss. Even those readers who are pet lovers may wonder if Kosins's extreme devotion and grief are signs that he has not truly accepted that death and loss are inevitable aspects of life. Patrons who have lost pets might be better served by guides written from a counselor's perspective, such as Wallace Sife's The Loss of a Pet (Howell, 1993).
- Stacy Pober, Manhattan Coll. Libs., New York
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Heartbreaking tribute for any pet lover
This book tore me apart. As the current owner of a 14-year old airedale mix with not much time left on this earth, reading about Kosins' story with his beloved Maya really hit home. A short book and an easy read (I suggest one sitting), this relentless tear-jerker is beautiful and almost poetic. While it is true that Kosins' sometimes over-the-top behavior to make his dog's life better in her later years (quitting his job, cutting himself off from friends) may be difficult to identify with, this also helps us realize the level of devotion Kosins felt. A wonderful -- though heartbreaking -- read for any dog lover, preferable on a rainy Sunday afternoon with that special someone (somedog?) curled at your feet.

A beautifully written and touching tribute
I read "Maya's First Rose" in one seating with my 13 year old dog on my lap and a box of kleenex by my side. Martin Kosins has written a beautiful and very moving tribute to not just his own dog Maya, but to all dogs who are loved whole heartedly by their humans. I've read his famous dog prose on the 4 stages of a dogs life before (which is not in this book) and been touched, but this book was so much more than I ever expected. His final poem in the book, which is also called Maya's First Rose, is a haunting and memorable work of poetry that I have saved and will send out to those people who I know who have loved and lost a dog.

I was shocked I must say to see the callous hearted "reviews" some people have here at Amazon about this same lovely book. If you have never loved a pet then why would you even read this wonderful book much less write a scathing comment about it here?
If you have never loved a pet you will never understand those who do. It is only your misfortune.

You won't appreciate this until you've been there
A friend gave me this book after I lost my first dog, a rescued collie-shepherd mix who had became my asthma alert dog and saved my life several times.
Yes, it's sappy and emotional, and anyone who has never truly bonded with a dog will not understand it. Those who have, will not make it through without crying. To persons not in a state of grief (or facing the old age of their beloved pet) it may come across as over-the-top; but for those living with the sharp and intimate pain of losing a beloved companion animal--all I can say is, I read this and cried my eyes out, and somehow it helped.