Gratitude
A very special thank you to Karen Bernardo for her expertise in editing services; to John Reinhardt for his book design services; and Janel and Nathan Starr for their book design services.
Illustrators, Nathan Behmlander and Anna Leliwa, thank you for bringing these stories to life. Your vibrant and heartfelt images truly help tell the stories!
For the E-books, I am delighted to be able to use Book Creator so that my stories can be shared freely with children across the world.
Print books may be found on Amazon for purchase.
Rescue books meet four goals:
Improve Literacy Skills: There are many opportunities to work on literacy skills with Rescue Pup and Rescue Kitty, especially in the area of critical thinking which is a high priority in schools today with Common Core State Standards: predictions, inferences, connections, questions, and word families are easy to incorporate into a reading lesson. The hands go up and questions pour in from every young audience who listens and reads these books. This story meets criteria for state standards and humane education mandates. The author has written a comprehensive study guide with reproducible activities across the curriculum and is available as a FREE download on the activities page
Build Character and Compassion: Rescue books build character and touch on virtues including kindness, empathy, compassion, responsibility, friendship, and love. The stories help deter the likelihood of bullying and abuse toward animals and humans later on. It creates a better person within us all.
Develop Social and Emotional Skills: One of the biggest features of these storybooks is the work of Nathan Behmlander. His captivating illustrations emphasize the emotions that Buddy and Cally experience. The expressions on Buddy's face from page to page allow children to make connections and understand his feelings. They learn that animals have feelings too, and children can relate to how Buddy feels throughout the story - sad, lonely, confused, fearful, nervous, hungry, hurt, determined, trusting, hopeful, happy, loved, secure.
Promote Pet Education: In a very simple format, young readers are introduced to the dangers homeless animals face, the idea of animal rescue, shelters as the place to adopt, and responsibilities that go along with owning a pet.