Drawing Your Pet

We recently changed our name to Kidoodlepet Press because it better represents our goal of “Connecting Kids and Pets.” Kidoodlepets = Kids & Pets Having Oodles of Fun! For seven years I was an early childhood teacher. The two things that impressed me most about young children were their innate sense of fairness and their wonderful sense of humor. At conferences, parents were always concerned about cognitive progress and social skills. I was more concerned about how the child was developing his character – and making sure that I fostered fairness and helped develop humor whenever possible.

Through the years I’ve become alarmed at the lack of respect in society today. What poor examples the adult media world presents to today’s children! What can we, as parents and teachers, do to help our children build a strong character? A great deal of study and research on the subject led me to develop what I named The Building Blocks of Good Character™. If we understand what qualities make up a positive character, we can then begin to teach them to our children through stories, activities and actions.

Because children have such a love for pets, all the characters in my books are pets. These books were created to subliminally present the values that develop character and to create a “talking” opportunity for parents. Many, many good children’s books incorporate these lessons in different ways. Once you recognize the “Building Blocks” you will see many opportunities to talk about them. When children are old enough to make decisions for themselves they will have a firm foundation to rely on.

The building Blocks of Good CharacterTwo of our books focus on the “Values” building block. The Back Bones of Character™ illustrate the values. The six “bones” are six values that children learn from caring for pets. In The Crazy Kids Guide to Cooking for Your Pet, you’ll find bones interspersed throughout the cartoons, pet care tips, recipes and pet information. On page 16, you’ll find a very simple recipe for Hush Puppies. You’ll also see a cartoon where Baby Dog doesn’t want to “share” his Hush Puppies. His dad, Crazy Dog, tells him that “sharing is part of being fair.” In the Kids Guide to Pet Jokes, Rhymes & Riddles, there is a simple sing-songy rhyme for each bone, to help children remember the meaning of the values.