Sweet Read

“Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” by Tracy Ahrens, a review by Pamela Kimmell

I recently had the wonderful experience of being offered a chance to read and comment on a darling book for children. I knew of the book because a couple of my blogging friends had read it and done glowing reviews.   I had a feeling I’d just love the book and I was totally correct.

“Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” is written for the 2-8 year old range and is just perfect as a “read aloud” for little ones.   The illustrations, which Tracy has done herself, are precious – little Sammy’s character has all the wide-eyed wonder that any little one has – anxious to see the world – curious about everything – knowing no fear.   So you immediately feel a bond with him as he’s so vulnerable.

The story is short and sweet and illustrates a number of “lessons” I think but the one that I felt as I reluctantly closed the book after reading it was that children and little ones of all kinds shouldn’t be too anxious to leave the nest….life is so BIG and our time as youngsters is relatively short. We should take our cue from those who know and love us the most and take our time getting to know what we can and can’t do well before embarking on life’s BIG adventure!   It’s just one of those stories that stays with you because the message is so meaningful and one that I think little children “absorb” easily.

“Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” was released Dec. 25, 2014 by Guardian Angel Publishing. It is Tracy’s third children’s book.  In conjunction with the book, she also created the Sammy Shelter Project to help NINE area humane organizations with the book sales. By ordering through the project website, $2 from each book purchase will be donated to the organization chosen and noted on the form. Use this link to visit that page – tracyahrens.weebly.com/sammy-shelter-project. 

Current humane organizations set to benefit from this project are: It’s a Pittie Rescue (Peotone, Il.), New Beginnings for Cats (Bourbonnais, Il.), River Valley Animal Rescue (Momence, Il.), Cache Creek Animal Rescue (Anna and Joliet, Il.), Grassroots Animal Rescue (Medinah, Il.), Illinois Horse Rescue of Will County (Beecher, Il.), Iroquois County Animal Rescue (Iroquois, Il.), Kankakee County Humane Foundation (St. Anne, Il.) and Because Animals Really Kount (Kankakee, Il.)

You can also find information about the project on Facebook under Sammy Shelter Project.

To donate to a participating rescue organization, you must use the form available for download from the Sammy Shelter Project website. Otherwise, “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” can be ordered in eBook form ($5) and print form ($9.95 + $5.95) through Guardian Angel Publishing, http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com. It can also be ordered in print form through a variety of other book order sites such as http://www.barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com.

I just love the whole idea behind the book as well as the story IN the book and I think you will agree.

Tracy herself is not only a veteran journalist and author/artist, but has three cats and a dog who are all rescues. She knows animals and she shows her love for them in the lovely and most tender “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” which I most highly recommend.   I can hardly wait to read it aloud to the next “little one” I encounter!

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Thanks Mom!  Mom read this little book to me yesterday and I loved it…….especially the name of the Sparrow………..what’s not to like about ANYONE named Sammy right????    I just wanted to stick this note on the end of Mom’s book review to remind you what tomorrow is (as if you needed reminding).  It’s St. Patrick’s Day of course BUT it’s also Tuesday Teaser!   Will you be standing by?  Will you be first off the mark and get the First Commenter award or will you be First Right Guesser or ALL OF THE ABOVE????    Don’t forget to wear something green tomorrow too – or else you get PINCHED!   Tee Hee

Hugs, Sammy (and Mom)