BAD RAP Blog

In case you didn't know, the BAD RAP Blog is about the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's dogfighting operation.  The contributers chronicle the dogs' recovery and adoption as well as general news on dogfighting and animal welfare.

The just recently had a very moving post about a California summer camp who incorporated the children's book Saving Audie into their activities.  After reading the book, a 12-year-old girl wrote the following essay (copied verbatim) from the dog's point of view.  It's one of the most moving pieces I've ever read:

    Bang. Loud rambicios roudy yells of the tall gangely men and and some stalky staring down at me there faces hard looking me agressively in the eye I backed against the side of the pen and a surging sting quivering through my body as I was shunted forward a single word forming on my owners lips on who broke me one who beat me all feeling pulsing in my head the wall of sound behind me "fight".
    He mouthed the dog opposite me head lolling in confusion but behined the bared teeth I saw a spark only for a split second it read a single word love. and behined the bared teeth I looked into the dogs sole it was there a kind loving other being. A dark shadow crossed his face a hurt tortured look. And the fight began. I closed my eyes.
    I woke up some time later how much time had passed I didn't know it could be weeks or months or years. But the pain was behined me of the fight. But it was still with me it had formed me in the deepest part of my broken heart. A worker dressed in a uniform passed by shooting me a sorrow filled glance and I flashed back in my mind to that terrible place.
    Pressing myself against the cinder block wall crumpling in a corner. I wanted to float away like a balloon drifting further and further awy from this place of misery and hurt. Then suddenly a heavy metal door opened and soft warm loving eyes met mine she didn't look at me like I was a monster or a terror and she opened her hands in a frindly gesture and suddenly the cinder block wall felt cold so on shaking quivering legs I got up and walked toward a new life.

Here's hoping some teacher or other adult is helping that girl in her writing...so that the insight and the talent she's shown here won't be wasted in the future.

Kids' Summer Reading List

In honor of the long days of summer, I’ve compiled a short list of books (along with a personal opinion of ages they'd appeal to) to help chase away boredom and enrich your kids until school starts again.

10 Books Your Kids Should be Reading But Probably Aren’t: 

Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders: A charming chapter book where a dog narrates the story of his life in turn-of-the-century Maine.  It does have a decidedly Christian feel but it advocates kindness to all creatures.  This story is a must-read for animal lovers.  SUGGESTED AGE: 7-TWEEN 

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde: In this short story by the famed humorist, an American family rents a haunted English manor and locks horns with its 400-year-old ghost.  It’s full of commentary on stuffy British society and rampant American consumerism, but the message is surprisingly sweet.  SUGGESTED AGE: 6-TEEN 

The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci, Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney: This adaptation of a Creole folktale does a wonderful job of conveying an important lesson on kindness amidst the magic that is rural Louisiana.  SUGGESTED AGE: 3-10 

The Red Room Riddle by Scott Corbett, Illustrated by Geff Gerlach: If your older child likes a good scare, this clever ghost story is the best.  A slightly bloody plot involving the biblical Slaughter of the Innocents, most of the action takes place in a small town in 1920s America.  Two boys trespass into a local haunted house on Halloween night and get the scare of their lives.  SUGGESTED AGE: 8-TEEN 

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: Another great book for a slightly older set or a young advanced reader is this collection of short stories about a girl growing up in a rough Chicago neighborhood.  Slightly stream-of-consciousness and gorgeously poetic, this sad yet hopeful book will make your child want to be a writer.  SUGGESTED AGE: 8-TEEN 

D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths Written & Illustrated by Edgar and Ingri D’Aulaire: I spent many happy hours wandering through the pages of this book, engaged again and again by the colorful illustrations and classic stories.  Full of heroes, villains, gods and goddesses, it’s a necessary addition to any child’s bookshelf.  SUGGESTED AGE: 6-TWEEN 

Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm Written & Illustrated by Martin and Alice Provensen: Based on the authors’ experiences at their upstate New York farm, this book is a delightful respite for any city kid.  Including dogs, cats, horses, chickens, cows, sheep and goats as well as some touching commentary on animals that’ve passed on, this picture book feels like an idyllic day in the country.  SUGGESTED AGE: 3-10 

King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, Drawings by Wesley Dennis: Marguerite Henry is the quintessential horse-story writer and this tale about the Godolphin Arabian (the ancestor of all champion Thoroughbred racehorses) is both suspenseful and heart-warming.  If your child loved Black Beauty, he’ll love the friendship between the stallion Sham and his stable boy Agba.  SUGGESTED AGE: 7-TWEEN 

The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume: Most people know the coming-of-age tale Are You There, God: It’s Me, Margaret, but Judy Blume has a ton of other stories just as poignant and funny.  If you have a middle child, she NEEDS to read about how second-grader Freddy Dissel makes himself stand out when he’s normally overshadowed by his older brother and little sister.  SUGGESTED AGE: 3-7 

The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo, Illustrated by Ruth Heller: Every culture has a Cinderella story, and this is one of the best.  Based on the true tale of the Greek slave Rhodopis, a contemporary of the famous bard Aesop, its bright colors and lyrical writing pack quite a punch.  I loved it because Rhodopis’ pale skin and blonde hair made her an outcast among the dark eyes and caramel-colored skin of her Egyptian peers, a feeling I knew all too well growing up.  SUGGESTED AGE: 3-7

Stump the Bookseller

I am a book fiend.  My older sister taught me to read when I was about three years old and I haven't really stopped since.  I'll read pretty much anything once and a lot of my favorite books over and over again.  My Husband's suggested getting me a Kindle a number of times, but I have so many beloved books we'd have to purchase again...it's just not worth it.

As a kid I read everything from children's books to adult classics (I honestly thought Animal Farm was going to be about an animal farm).  While looking for a picture book I couldn't think of the title of, I found this website and I've really enjoyed perusing it ever since.

Harriet Logan runs a used bookstore, Loganberry Books (literature's gone green!), in Shaker Heights, Ohio.  She had a hobby of finding long-lost children's titles for her customers and turned that hobby into a website.  For $2.00 you can post a description of the book you can quite recall, and either she or one of the site's visitors will answer it for you!  Totally cool, especially for me...I want my baby to have more books than diapers when he/she gets here someday.

My book stumper involves a children's book I read in sixth or seventh grade (approximately 1997).  The only things I can remember about it is a group of girls who each have a magical gift which helps them "work;" one girl with cropped black hair has a belt or girdle that makes her invisible because she's a thief by trade.  I feel like another girl was a seamstress or something, but I can't be sure.  I'm also assuming there were either three or seven girls in the story...those are pretty magical numbers and the appear in a lot of literature.

So far no one has figured out my book, but I paid my $2.00 and I am still hopeful!  It's listed in the Stumper Archives as M595.  Check this site out and reminisce about the books you loved as a kid.