My book Starlight is still in the editing phase.
For those of you who are just reading my blog, I have a middle grade book coming out this December, starring Starlight the fox. She was adopted as a pup by a family of street dogs. She learns to forage for food and be cautious of humans. When she grows up, she moves out to find her place in the world, and along the way, she meets a human child who was adopted, too (but I won’t give away too many details here).
Speaking of adoption, here’s my review on a book about adopting a puppy. It explains the responsibilities that come with it and the need to be patient when a puppy is still learning.
Love Me Gently: A Kid’s Guide for Man’s Best Friend, written by Lisa Wiehebrink and illustrated by Eleanor Harbison
Henry is a boy whose family just adopted a puppy, whom they named Cooper. Readers will follow Henry and Cooper as they show us how to take care of a little canine. The following are the basic tips, and my thoughts are in the parentheses.
·Stay away from the food bowl while the dog is eating (That’s smart. Don’t want to risk getting bitten.).
·Don’t pull a puppy’s ear or tail or squeeze it too tight (Also smart.).
·Let sleeping dogs lie.
·Don’t throw the ball at the puppy (Don’t want to hit the little thing.). Rather, throw it for the puppy to chase.
·Don’t leave the gate or door open, or the puppy will escape.
·Don’t shout at a puppy when it doesn’t get the “sit” and “stay” commands (Patience is a virtue, after all.).
·Don’t feed the puppy human food, or it might get sick (Um, I sometimes feed my dogs cheese as snacks, and they don’t get sick from that. Some human foods are fine for dogs. You just need to research on what’s okay and what’s not.).
·Keep a collar with a dog license on the puppy. That way, if the puppy gets lost, it’ll be returned to you.
·Don’t scold the puppy when it wets the carpet. Instead, guide it to go outside.
·Don’t hit the puppy if it chews on your stuff. It’s just trying to soothe its baby teeth. Instead, give it a toy of its own.
·Don’t pull on the leash. Instead, let the puppy explore while going on a walk (Allowing the dog to sniff around is healthy as it keeps them grounded and familiar with their surroundings. Sometimes, though, you need to encourage the dog to follow you on command. For ideas on how to get your puppy to follow you, check out the following videos by Zak George.).
(Of course, there’s good ole Cesar Millan. By the way, I’m not sponsored by any of these dog trainers.)
Love Me Gently is fitting for kids grades preschool through second grade. It’s distributed by Tails that Teach, an organization founded by the author. It donates copies of this book and other animal books to schools, literacy programs, and animal organizations (I picked up my copy from my local animal shelter.). Tails that Teach works to encourage children to have compassion for animals as well as grow in confidence in reading.
For more teaching materials and information, check out their website: