Friendly Fill-Ins and Fun Reading!

Happy Friday!    It’s time for the Friendly Fill-Ins Blog Hop co-hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs.    I’m also taking the opportunity to tell you about Ellen Pilch’s brand new book “I Am Not A Skunk” which is her second book and just as adorable as “Prancie’s Prayer” which was also about one of her many kitties.

First comes the filling in fun!    Each of our co-hosts gives us TWO sentences with blanks to fill in……..and when we fill the blanks in and share through the Hop we find out fun stuff about our friends who are also in the Hop.    If you’d like to join us – just click on the badge above – it will take you to 15andMeowing and you can link up.    I let my Mom do the filling in this week – my little Easter gift to her (hahaha).    Mom’s words are in EASTERY PINK!

1. An Easter ( or Passover) memory that  I have is getting excited about wearing my Easter dress, hat and gloves to Sunday School on Easter Sunday when I was a little girl.

2. I hope to purchase smaller sized clothes (yes that means I want to lose weight!) this year.

3. When the days are warm, I love taking Teddy outside for a walk.

4. If the Easter Bunny visited my house, he would be confused since I hide Easter eggs for my husband myself!!

Now we want to tell you about Miss Ellen’s adorable new book.    It’s a charming story about another of her many kitties and how she came to find her forever home with Ellen and her husband.   Ellen’s first book was about her kitty Prancie and this one is about sweet Emmy.    Because Emmy is a black and white kitty she was mistaken for a skunk when first seen in the yard!    After a clever way of proving she was indeed a kitty looking for a meal and possible home, Emmy gets her wish and joins the Pilch tribe of kitties to live happily ever after.

The book is available on Amazon – you may click the cover and it will take you right to the page on Amazon where you can purchase the book.    Don’t miss out – add this one to your own collection or get it now for a special “little one” in your life.   It’s beautifully written AND illustrated.    We can’t wait for Ellen to write another book about one of her other rescue kitties!

Dear Emmy – we know you’re not a skunk!!!! 

Hugs, Teddy and Mom Pam

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)

 

 

 

Rub A Dub Dub

Remember that nursery rhyme?  “Rub a dub, dub…..three men in a tub…..” ???

Well the “tub” I’m about to talk about is far from that kind of tub – it’s a beautiful and wonderful home afloat for one of my best buddies and his two devoted humans.   Who’s the buddy?  Why it’s Bailey Boat Cat who has one of the most fun and interesting cat blogs we follow.   But he’s not just a pretty face – he’s also a published author and Mom and I just read his book for the THIRD time!   Three times?  Well that’s how good it is – you want to go back and read it over and over because it’s full of fun.

From the first page to the last you learn about what it’s like to live on board a sailboat from Bailey’s perspective – and surprisingly we learn that there are a lot of cats (and dogs) who live full-time on boats like he does.  Lucky them!    Bailey and his humans recently started living full-time together as a family on board Nocturne, their lovely boat – you’ll see lots of great interior and exterior shots of Nocturne in the book – and get to explore all the hiding spots, cubbyholes and interesting napping places aboard Nocturne thanks to all the photos in the book.

Bailey’s beautiful home…..”Nocturne”

Bailey talks about safety and what’s important to have aboard in case of emergencies……….in fact you can see how Bailey handled his OWN emergency when he learned (accidentally) that he could swim!   His parents cleverly crafted a rope ladder for him which probably (knowing Bailey) will be well used in the future since he loves adventure.

The book is wonderful for people of all ages to read and learn from – certainly anyone who has a boat or is lucky enough to live aboard a boat – particularly if they have a pet.  Children will love Bailey’s adventures and hearing about his life and “rules of the water”……..the book is full of beautiful photographs, cat wisdom, fun and charm and you definitely WILL want to keep it handy for a smile or two when you need it.

I had the occasion to share the book with our next door neighbors recently at a July 4th cookout.  They have two little boys aged seven and nine and the whole family enjoyed the book cover to cover.

I’m ever so proud to know Bailey and his parents – they are truly “living the dream” and having the life many of us would love to have……….sailing into the sunset to see the world one adventure at a time.   We do hope Bailey has more books coming and wish his “Mom” Louise Kennedy much luck in all her writing endeavors in the future – she definitely has “the gift” of writing – this book will be treasured in this household always.

If you’d like to pre-order the book (which will be released in hard cover September 2 in the USA), just CLICK HERE .   It’s also available on Kindle.    One thing is for sure – we can guarantee you will be glad you did……….

HAPPY SAILING BAILEY!  

Your Friends Forever

Sammy and Pam Kimmell

A Feral Cat Story

Hi Peeps!  I’m turning my blog over to my Mom today because she wanted to tell you about a book she read that has a special place in her heart.  Why?  Well, because it’s a true tale about a little feral kitten and how she captured the hearts of the writer and her family on the island of Cat Cay.

Take it away Mom……… 😀

“Thanks Sam – mighty generous of you to let me borrow your audience to tell them about this book.  The book is called “Taming Me:Memoir of a Clever Island Cat” and the author is Cathy Unruh.  I was sent an Advance Reader Copy of this book by the publisher several months ago and was saving my comments to post closer to the time the book would be published.  When is that exactly??  Well, it’s being published on October 16th which just happens to be National Feral Cat Day!  

Many of you know that Sammy was/is a feral cat; perhaps at this point, 13 years after we adopted him from the shelter, we can truly call him “formerly feral”.  Because I always felt bad for the little ginger cat we saw in the shelter all alone and scared I wondered what his life had been like up to that point even though there had only been about six weeks of life for him then.  “Taming Me” gave me a true vision of what it probably WAS like and that’s why this book will always be a favorite of mine.

The book follows the life of a little kitten who ultimately was named Lucy Miracle by the family who one day took her home.  Lucy was all alone on an island where cats were treated like vermin – trapped and destroyed.  There is much of this book that’s been fictionalized, but there’s also much that sticks to the reality of Lucy’s life on Cat Cay as she struggles to survive.   This little cat had such spunk!  I was rooting for her from the first page as she struggled to find food and shelter with her Mother and siblings.

Cathy Unruh’s writing style was perfect for this story – she truly does have an incredible talent for “becoming” a cat in the way she related everything Lucy saw, felt, did…..the awkwardness of a kitten – the shyness of a feral – the fear of the unknown.  It was all so well done through the eyes of Lucy.   The endearing story captured me from the first page and held me throughout the entire book.  I cried when Lucy’s Mother died but in a way it was truly the beginning of Lucy’s new life as a housecat in her “forever home”.

 

I won’t say more because I’d like to recommend that you visit Cathy’s website and pre-order the book to read for yourself.  You won’t forget the read – I can promise you it will be on your library shelves forever.  The book can be pre-ordered through Barnes & Noble.

 

Click HERE to visit Cathy’s website……while I’ve never met Cathy, I feel like I know her as a kindred spirit in her love of animals.  You will too!

Here’s Lucy!

Another dear friend of mine, Caren Gittleman from CAT CHAT (and Dakota’s Den!) did a really wonderful review of this book too on Cody’s blog a while ago……Caren does spectacular book reviews, so if you’d like even more information or just want to hear from someone else who loved this book, please visit Cody and Caren at CAT CHAT to read her review.   Click HERE to read.

Happy Friday Sammy’s friends!  Now, Sammy, come here so I can give you a GREAT BIG MOMMY HUG for letting me use your blog today!!!”

Love, Sammy and his Mom Pam 😀

P.S.   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY TODAY……Thanks for being such a great Dad……….I love you………..

Daddy and me when I was a little guy…..