Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight

Happy Friday everyone! It looks like I am on my own today – Lucy is taking another Friday off per order of NUCAT. For those that are not familiar, it is the National Union  of Cats which all my cats seemed to have joined.

I have a great children’s book to recommend today, its about a bird, but a cat does make a brief appearance in it. I was thrilled to be asked to review Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight by Tracy Ahrens. She not only wrote the book, but illustrated it as well.

Sammy is a young sparrow who can’t wait to fly on his own. One night he tries to fly when his parents are sleeping and has some problems. I really enjoyed this book and like the lesson it teaches about waiting until one is ready to do something- and parents being there to love and protect.. I also love that $2 of every sale goes to support a shelter. Tracy Ahrens has provided the following information:

Children’s book to assist area humane organizations

Over 20 years ago artwork for a children’s story, “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” was born. I was on holiday break from college and sat on the floor in my bedroom using chalks to free images for the story that lived in my mind.

The images have been tucked away in a scrapbook album until now. “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight” (ages 2-8) was released Dec. 25, 2014 by Guardian Angel Publishing. It is my third children’s book.

In conjunction with the book, I have 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.).

In “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight,” a young sparrow named Sammy quickly learns why parents set rules. He was told not to fly alone at night. His wings are weak and Sammy falls into a bush below. The world looks scary from the ground. A friendly owl flies Sammy back home to sleep under his parents’ wings.

The story is based on my childhood years of rescuing baby sparrows that fell out of a multi-room birdhouse high up on a pole in a neighbor’s backyard

Initially I went to college to be a veterinarian and changed my major to English. I continue to help creatures with the written word, my art and volunteering for humane organizations. It’s only fitting that I finally let Sammy fly with a mission to help area humane organizations I have grown to know and volunteer with. 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, www.guardianangelpublishing.com. It can also be ordered in print form through a variety of other book order sites such as www.barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com.

Book information: www.guardianangelpublishing.com Print ISBN: 9781616335847; 161633584X

eBook ISBN: 9781616335854; 1616335858

Author Contact Information:

Tracy Ahrens, Momence, Il.

815-472-0038

my***********@ya***.com

Author website: www.tracyahrens.weebly.com

Book & Author Facts:

 Tracy is the author of six books, two that are designated to help humane organizations.

 She is a 20-plus-year veteran journalist and editor. She is also an artist who has donated pet portraits for charity events to benefit humane organizations. One portrait is on permanent display at the Cat Fanciers’ Association Foundation cat museum in Alliance, Ohio and another is displayed in the House Rabbit Society’s Rabbit Center in Richmond, Calif.

 Tracy is the parent of three cats (Joan of Arc and Jack Sparrow who were found as kittens, and Forest who was adopted at age 4 months) and one dog (Trucker who was adopted at age 5).

 Trucker was adopted from the Kankakee County Humane Society which is now the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.

 Forest was adopted from New Beginnings for Cats.

 Tracy is a founding member of B.A.R.K (in 2000) and a founding member of the Kankakee County Animal Foundation which merged with the Kankakee County Humane Society (in 2010) and was renamed Kankakee County Humane Foundation.

 An image of the birdhouse that Tracy used to rescue sparrows from below is posted on the project website.