Children's Books and Animals - A Week to Celebrate!

This post by Gayle M. Irwin

This week, the first week of May, is special to me for two reasons, well maybe three: Spring should actually be here to stay in my area, especially have a several-inch dumping of snow late last week; May 1 to 7 is Children’s Book Week, and it’s also considered Be Kind to Animals Week. Although spring is very important, especially to those of us in the west who deal with spring snow storms, I want to focus on the other two reasons I like this week: kids and books, and kindness and animals.

Children’s Book Week began in 1919 and is promoted by the Children’s Book Council. It’s a week to celebrate children’s books, children’s authors, reading, and writing. I remember falling in love with reading thanks to authors like E.B. White and Laura Ingalls Wilder and books such as Black Beauty, The Trumpet of the Swan, and Follow My Leader. Little did I know then that I’d grow up to write my own children’s books, with animals as characters and life lessons woven into those stories.

Be Kind to Animals Week is celebrated this week as well. Started nearly 100 years ago by American Humane, the idea is to teach children kindness toward animals, in particular to companion animals, like dogs and cats. I’m grateful this special recognition overlaps with Children’s Book Week, for, as an author of children’s books with animals as characters, I can integrate my authorship with events celebrating books, children, animals, and kindness. In fact, this week I’m blessed to have three events: two out-of-town and one at my community’s library. I’m sharing these events with other children’s book authors I’ve met. We’re reaching kids with strong, positive messages, such as kindness, self-confidence, and friendship, as well as providing activities, including making their own books. And my dog, Mary, is part of the “cast” at these events as well!

Mary has her own book, released last month. Titled A Kind Dog Named Mary, this book teaches kids the importance of pet adoption and the importance of being kind. I use real photos of my real dog, and having the children meet her and hear her story makes those vital lessons all the more vivid and real to them.

As an author, sometimes it’s challenging to tie our works into special recognitions, but it can be done. There are special days, weeks, and months for nearly all occasions – for example, did you know there’s a National Artichoke Hearts Day? Yep, it’s in March, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. Women’s History Month is also observed in March; for those who write historical fiction/romance, that might be a good time of year to tie in with your books. National History Day, a time of learning and competition for students, usually takes place in June; this, too, might be a good tie-in for those who write non-fiction or fiction books based in another time period.

Writing about animals, primarily dogs and cats, allows me to tie in with various observances, including Be Kind to Animals Week, but also Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month (June), Responsible Dog Ownership Days (September), Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month (October), and Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month (November).  Last year, I conducted a few library programs and booksignings around Take Your Dog to Work Day, which happens the fourth Friday of June; my programs included information on the jobs that dogs do, including law enforcement, service to the disabled, and herding. I try to coordinate book events in October and November that will benefit my local animal shelter and hope to do so again this year.

As Children’s Book Week and Be Kind to Animals Week wrap up for this year, I’m working on my next children’s pet stories, to have available by the holiday season, maybe sooner since Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month occurs in October. Children and books, children and animals, and books about animals are all close to my heart, and it’s my desire to engage children with reading as well as writing and to remind them of the gifts of both literacy and pets.

What books intrigued you as a child? Were any of them, or the authors, reasons you became a writer? Do you have special times during the year that you tie your writings with? And, the biggest question of all – has anyone written a book about artichokes yet?! Have a great weekend everyone – Happy Writing!

Gayle M. Irwin is the author of several inspirational pet books for children and adults. She weaves life lessons into her works, including friendship, self-confidence, courage, and kindness. She is also a contributing writer to seven Chicken Soup for the Soul books and has a story in Sundown’s 2016 release Memories from Maple Street USA: Pawprints on My Heart. Learn more about Gayle at www.gaylemirwin.com. She also maintains a pet blog on her website, dispensing interesting and fun information about companion animals and volunteers for regional animal rescue organizations.

Children and Pets

This post by Gayle M. Irwin

There was Lassie and Timmy, Petey and the Little Rascals, Comet and the Full House girls, Socks and Chelsea Clinton – and there was me and Precious, me and Whitey, and me and Bridgette. I’ve never forgotten any of the pets I shared life with when I was a child – nor any since.

Did you have a pet when you were a child? Do you remember your first pet?

Mine was a calico kitten named Precious. She followed me home from a friend’s house one summer day; she was a young kitten at the time, and we spent more than 10 years together. There was also Whitey, a white and liver-spotted German Shorthaired Pointer who didn’t cut it as a hunting dog for my dad, so he became my canine companion when I was 11 years old. After Whitey’s passing (he was a sickly pup due to his mother being bred to her own father and that union producing an unhealthy litter), came Bridgette, a part German Shepherd, part Fox Terrier and Coyote puppy who stole my heart with her tawny-colored, wavy coat and racoon-like facial mask. All three of these animals impacted my life in their own way, and all three were my special friends. Between age 7 and 24, I shared life and adventures with these wonderful creatures.

Precious put up with my childish years. She allowed me to cloak her in dresses and bonnets and push her in a baby buggy. She put up with rides on my bicycle, painted Donny Osmond purple. Precious sat in the white plastic basket with purple flowers woven through the slats that was attached to the swanky purple handlebars. At times, she placed her paws on the side of the basket and watched the world go by as I trekked along neighborhood sidewalks. She rarely cried in protest, but upon reaching home, Precious darted to the house’s second floor to hide in a closet for the remainder of the day.

Whitey never rode shotgun on my bicycle, but he did chase butterflies. Orange and black Monarchs and yellow and black swallowtails sailed across the fields and gardens of our Iowa home – and Whitey’s hunting instinct kicked in enough to follow after them. He and I spent many a warm summer day in the cool of our cedar and hickory woodland, kept native on portions of the 14-acres my parents had purchased when I was 10 years old. Whitey and I explored field and forest, following the butterflies, listening to songbirds, and watching white-tailed deer and cotton-tailed rabbits.

Bridgette came to us as a ten-week old puppy, all wiggly, joyous, and affectionate. As an only child, I loved sharing time with my pets, and Bridgette was filled with enough curiosity to follow me through the woods, sniffing the base of trees, the edges of our 2-acre pond, and the wildflowers growing in the woods. She cocked her head to listen as owls hooted, robins chirped, ducks quacked, and pheasants squawked. As I journaled our nature observations while sitting on a fallen log, she lay at my feet, vigilant to the sights, sounds, and smells around us.

Children and pets – they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

I was a writer and nature observer as a child; both traits have continued to adulthood. Pets were important to me then; they remain so today. I chronicle some of the animals who shared my life, and the lessons I learned from them, in my self-published fall 2016 book Tail Tales: Pets Who Touched My Heart and Impacted My Life, including remembrances of Precious and Bridgette. I share thoughts about my life with a blind dog named Sage and an aging cocker spaniel named Cody, both of whom shared my life as I entered middle-aged adulthood – my reflections about these two special creatures are noted in Sundown’s summer 2016 release Memories from Maple Street USA: Pawprints onMy Heart. Pets do touch hearts and do impact lives, whether we are adults or children, especially when our hearts are open to learning the lessons they quietly teach us.

What pets have touched your life and impacted your heart, whether you were a child or an adult? What lessons have you learned from your companion animals?

Gayle M. Irwin is the author of several inspirational pet books for children and adults. She enjoys sharing about the pet-human bond and the lessons people can learn from animals and nature. She volunteers with various animal rescue groups in the Rocky Mountain region and donates a portion of her book sales to those groups. Learn more about Gayle and her writing at www.gaylemirwin.com.