For those who don't already know, it might interest you to know that Amazon offers free ebooks all the time. These ebooks come in every category you could want. My favorite category: kids books, for no other reason except that I don't care to read for long on a screen. I've been introduced to this awesomeness by Amber at Become a Coupon Queen. She posts a new list of 10 free books every day on Facebook, I definitely recommend following her.
One of the books that she recently posted caught my eye and I thought it really sent a great message to all kids. It's a book about loving your pets unconditionally, no matter what little annoyances they might bring to the table. I especially love the idea of this book because of a post that I came across not too long ago listing all of the reasons that people bring their pets back to the shelter. One of the animals was returned for being a loud snorer. No joke, it was sad. I don't want my kids to ever grow up and find animals as replaceable as that. That's why Hooligan Magooligan Loves Her Pets stood
out to me. The book is written by Louise Lintvelt. She writes Goodnight, Sleep Tight: What a Wonderful Flight and Things You Might See Swimming Under the Sea, as well as many others. I suggest checking out her site if you get any of her books, which has kid art project ideas and audio tracks that go along with the theme of a few of the books she has written. This book is illustrated by Julie Sneeden, who has an impressive portfolio of beautiful illustrations on her site, and many other artworks also. Her art makes me want to read her other books.
The main character, Hooligan, reminds me a lot of Baby Bee, so of
course I am biased in how cute I think she is. She's got strawberry
blonde hair and bright blue eyes with piggies on her head... she's
pretty adorable. She lives in England, which of course is sure to give
the reader inside your head a very English accent, a little added
bonus. While the rhyming of the book and pet names do take some
getting used to, it gives a very clear message to kids that it's the
cool thing to love your pets for everything they are, even if they are
dirty or even almost snobby. Hooligan loves her fat, lazy cat as much
as her skinny playful night owl of a cat. She loves her mischievous
bone-hiding dog as much as her wet, muddy, water-loving dog. And they love her for loving them. This book doesn't only encourage unconditional love for family members, such as pets, but it also encourages the embracing of uniqueness and individuality.
I recommend this book to any family with young children who either have pets or are thinking about getting one. The lesson in this book can not be understated, even if you're not an advocate for animal rights. Everyone has less than desirable traits, but we all want to be loved, animals too. To get a feel for Louise Lintvelt as an author, check out this video of the book How Andrew Got His Spots, also illustrated by Julie Sneeden. For more Louise Lintvelt or Julie Sneeden news, their Facebook links are here: LouiseJulie Except for the product(s) given to me, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
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