Why CritterKin?
With the support of her principal, Ana Wilson, Erin Presdeer the librarian at John R Tibbott Elementary School in Illinois was one of the first to bring CritterKin books and programs to her school. This interview with Anna and Erin explains why they feel CritterKin is such an important addition to their school. They are sitting in front of the Kindness Garden the students and teachers planted and then decorated with rocks they painted expressing ways to share kindness with others.
The CritterKin Timeline
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The CritterKin Tales grew out of a request from the Director of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) who asked if I'd write some stories for kids about adoptable shelter dogs. The stories would appear in "Finding Fido," CFHS's anti-puppy mill campaign.
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Watch CFHS's Finding Fido video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3nMCAv6vKU
Poco a Poco
Shortly after I started volunteering with the SPCA and the Humane Society of North Carolina in 2010, I was introduced to the director of education at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). She and her team were working on a new program called "Cats Dogs, and Us." She wanted to include an original story based on the work they were doing in Cozumel, Mexico where dogs were being abandoned at the local garbage dump. The Humane Society and IFAW came together to get the dogs the healthcare they needed and find them permanent homes whenever possible.
After spending time talking with their teams and seeing photos and videos, I came up with Poco a Poco, the story of how a mother dog and her puppy overcame hunger and hardship to find their forever homes. "Poco a Poco" means "little by little," and is meant to illustrate how working on big challenges in small steps can result in positive change. A study and discussion guide is also included.
The Premiere of Poco a Poco
Click the image above to see my reading of Poco a Poco at The Farm - a summer camp for kids in North Carolina.
Meet the Mutts
Ricky Bobby Joins CritterKin
Ricky Bobby was an actual dog - a miniature dachshund who was living in a North Carolina puppy mill. His health had been neglected for so long that his back legs became paralyzed. He was rescued by the North Carolina Humane society and adopted by my friend Megan Bliss, a vet tech at my veterinarian's office. Megan welcomed Ricky into her home and built him a cart to get around in. The cart restored his mobility and allowed him to go for walks with Megan and her 100 lb. golden lab, Tucker.
Spending time with Ricky, and seeing how much care was involved with caring for him, made me even more determined to create materials that would teach kids kindness. The very first story in my book, Meet the Mutts is Ricky's and it has been a hit with every class and every school I've shared it with.
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Click on the image below to see and hear Ricky's real life story.
As part of my volunteer work with the American Humane Society (AHS) I observed and was given permission to write about puppy mills and the work AHS does to shut them down. It was during one of their raids on a puppy mill that I learned about Ricky Bobby, the miniature dachshund whose story you just heard in the video above.
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It was while writing Ricky's story that I came up with the idea of creating a pack of 8 mixed breed dogs. Meet the Mutts uses stories and creative activities to teach 8 to 12-year-old kids the social-emotional and core literacy skills they need to become kind, competent adults.​
Blog for Dogs
A wonderful collaboration between CritterKin, five fabulous teachers in four states - Monica Evons, Ann Feldman, Lisa Kincer, Tammy Massman, Angela Moses, and Courtney Smeby, and their amazing students. Check out the results HERE.
A Living Kindness Garden (J. R. Tibbott Elementary School - Illinois)
The garden was built and is maintained by students and staff, and is meant to teach kids all kinds of practical life skills such as where our food comes from, when and how to harvest and prepare it, what plants need to thrive, and how plants support our own health.
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The living garden at J.R. Tibbott is not only practical but beautiful as well. As part of our CritterKin project, the kids made and decorated stones that were then placed all around the edges of the garden beds.
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For learn more about the project and see the kids in action, visit:
https://www.pinterest.com/JenaiaMaui/critterkin-and-john-r-tibbott-elementary/
IBelow are some highlights from visits with classes around the country where I read from Meet the Mutts and the kids and I drew dogs.
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South Polk (Iowa)
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​Spring Branch Elementary (Missouri)
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Little Cypress (Texas)
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Cranbrook Elementary (Michigan)
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Martin J. Gottlieb Day School (Florida)
- John F. Long Elementary (Arizona)
- Southeast Polk (Iowa)
- ​Central Elementary (Nebraska)
- Eastover Elementary (Michigan)
- Warren ISD 3rd (Texas)
- Knapp Elementary (Pennsylvaia)
- Bellevue Elementary 4th (Nebraska)
- Warren ISD 2nd (Texas)
- Martin J. Gottleib School (Florida)
- Bellevue Hawks 3rd (Nebraska)
- Central Elementary (Nebraska)
- Nate Perry (New York)
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Lead With Your Heart
A Big, Black, Slobbery Pit Bull Tackles Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Bullying By Leading With His Heart
Told through the eyes of a goofy, fun-loving pit bull named Lance, Lead With Your Heart is the story of how one dog overcomes prejudice and fear to find his forever home. Lance's adventures involve everything from obedience training and spaghetti sauce to visits to the principal's office. But no matter what the challenge, Lance always leads with his heart.
Kids and adults alike will chuckle over his struggle to understand vacuum cleaners, cell phones and shoes, and cheer as he learns to overcome stereotypes, stigmas, bullying, and attempts by the city council to ban him from the town.​
Start with the Heart: Decorating the walls of schools with Kindness hearts.Click HERE to see the Pinterest board created for the project. All grade levels were included in the project, including a giant mural that ran the length of the main hall where every kid added a hand print.
Creating "The Des Moines Doggy Daily," Students a newspaper that explored the pros and cons of owning a pit bull and allowing people to adopt them. Students at Delaware Elementary school in Iowa took on the roles of photographers, reporters, editors, and opinion writers. Click HERE to see the Pinterest board created for the project a paragraph.
Quilting for Kindness
Creating Kindness Quilts (paper AND fabric): Actual paper (created as templates for the fabric quilts) and fabric quilts that gave each child a square to personalize and learn some sewing skills to boot! Kindness Quilts were created in classrooms across America and even had a museum and adults join.
Click HERE to learn more about the very first quilt created in Nebraska.
Click the links below to see examples from other classes in other states:
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Sarpy Museum - Adults working on Kindness Quilt squares (Nebraska)
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Jamie's Summer School Class (Illinois) ​​
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Lisa's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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Peter's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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​Newlands (New Zealand)
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Yvette's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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Amy's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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Brandon's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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Peter's Summer School Class (Illinois)
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Live performances of a one-act play called "Take Your Medicine," based on the last chapter of Lead With Your Heart. Characters were taken from the book and auditions held (everyone wanted to play the part of the dogs). Parts were assigned, practices were held, and invitations went out to family and friends. The events were also livestreamed so that classes in other parts of the world could watch. Two performances were held: one by Monica Evon's class in Nebraska, and one by Tammy Massman's class in Iowa.
Click the links below to see additional visits featuring Lead with Your Heart.
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​Union School
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​Newlands (New Zealand)
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Fieldstone Elementary (Minnesota)
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Southwest Elementary (Oklahoma)
The Not Perfect Hat Club
(A Place for Every Kid to Hang a Hat)​
The story of how a purebred Golden Retriever named named Newton discovers that his failure in the show ring and subsequent abandonment at an animal shelter were stepping stone to a new life and career helping not perfect kids.
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Newton's hilarious mistakes and ongoing confusion over how to become the very best at Flyball (a fast-paced relay sport in which teams of dogs race against one another and the clock to be the first to complete the course) will delight and reassure readers of all ages. As Newton discovers, he was never meant to be perfect, just awesome.
The Launch
Interview with the two educators responsible for bringing the launch of the Not Perfect Hat Club to their school.
After the launch reading in the gym, the kids and I went to the library where I signed books and got to meet some of my perfectly not perfect friends. FUN!
As an author, I can tell you that nothing is more touching than having a child (in this case six-year-old Bella who lives in Australia) read your book and then record a video like this. Thank you, Bella!
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The Many Faces of Newton
I really wish I could share the literally hundreds of delightful portraits of Newton that have been drawn over the years. Kids from the age of five to 14 tackled the challenge along with many teachers, parents, grandparents, and curious school administrators. We even did an intergenerational session where high school students mentored younger students and residents of an assisted living facility stopped by to draw and lend a hand.
It never ceases to amaze me how dogs bring out the best in people - including their creativity. Whenever possible I would invite one of the dogs from the local shelter to visit the class so the kids could could get direct, hands on experience of the unconditional love they had to share.
Click the links below to see highlights from Not Perfect Hat Club visits around the world:
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Members (All around the world)
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Inaburra School (Australia)
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John R. Tibbott (Illinois)
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Nate Perry (New York)
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NEH 3rd (Iowa)
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Brent International School (Philippines)
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Colegio Newland School, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
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Charleston Humane Society (North Carolina)
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Coopertown NC (North Dakota)
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Hong Kong Kids Meet Newton (China)
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Guest Blog for Education Week
I was invited by Peter Dewitt - a former K-5 public school principal turned author, presenter, and leadership coach, to write about why students believe they have to be perfect for his Education Week blog. Click HERE to read the piece on the Education Week blog.
The Six-week NPHCBlogIt Global Reading, Writing, and Blogging Event
NPHCBlogIt was a six-week global program that incorporated live readings, discussions, and creative activities and had students and teachers representing more than 400 schools from 16 countries taking part. Below you can find an overview, guidelines for participation, and videos of the actual events.​ Click on any of the images to be taken to the full experience.
The First Performance of the Not Perfect Hat Club Song
Performed by Louise Morgan's second grade class in Texas. Bravo kiddos, BRAVO!
Part I
Part II
High praise from a discerning music critic!
Special Hats for Special Kids
A Place for Every Kid to Hang a Hat
(A class of special needs kids in NY become Entrepreneurs)
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Click HERE to read the story.
CritterKin Halloween
It's been 16 years since I drew my first CritterKin mutt. Sixteen years of sketching, painting and teaching kids how to draw the eight dogs in the CritterKin pack. And while I would agree that my artistic skills have improved, I was really curious to see how more realistic, computer generated portraits of the dogs would look.
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To see all their new portraits, take part in a fun creative activity, and see fun videos of them dressign up for Halloween, Click HERE.
In-person Visits
Barnes and Noble, Highpoint, North Carolina
I read Ricky Bobby's story and had the kids talk about how they felt. Then we drew our own dogs based on actual dogs waiting to be adopted at the local animal shelter.
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Lucy Daniels - Bookmarked
Talking about the importance of social-emotional skills and how to use stories like The Not Perfect Hat Club to help kids develop them. I did an interactive reading and had the teachers do one of the creative exercises I do with the kids. We had fun and there were lots of good questions. Thank you for the invite Lucy Daniels.
A little goofy (floofy hair) but loads of FUN! I did a series of readings and creative activities at Sassool, our local Lebanese, Mediterranean restaurant. Sassool has terrific food, lovely owners, and a space that was perfect for reading to kids.
I was asked to present at the 2018 Adobe Learning Conference about the importance of giving adult students ways to enhance their emotional intelligence (EQ) during training sessions. I talked about how using story can take down walls, ease insecurities, and make learning fun. All of those things lead naturally to empathy, respect for differences, and self-awareness - the building blocks of EQ. I used one of the chapters from The Not Perfect Hat Club and had all the adults do what I ask the kids to do - have fun!