...and why we need to pick more!
āWho Wants Broccoli?ā is an adorably funny picture book about a big, fun dog named Broccoli who has lived at Beezleyās Animal Shelter for almost his whole life.
More than anything in the world, Broccoli wants to be picked as someoneās perfect pet. Even though Mrs. Beezley assures all of the animals in the shelter;Ā āThereās a lid for every pot, and a pot for every lidā, Broccoliās attempts to be noticed, (and hopefully adopted), never seem to bring him the kind of attention heās hoping for.
āWho Wants Broccoli?ā has a happy ending, but there are lots and LOTS of big, fun dogs waiting to be picked, just like Broccoli.
Will the REAL Broccoli please sit up?
āWho Wants Broccoliā is based on our own big, fun dog, Fergus. Like most events in life, adopting Fergus was memorable, but completely unplanned.
It was the end of a weekday when I strolled by a number of empty cages in our local mall. Animal shelter volunteers were packing up their temporary set-up and all of the cute little kittens and puppies had been happily adopted. I couldnāt help but notice a big, black, scrufty dog, wrapped sadly around one of the volunteers. No one had adopted him that day.
I stopped to pat the big dog and the volunteer told me the dogās name was Fergus. Fergus had lived in a series of shelters his entire life. As the volunteer told me Fergusās story I felt my heart begin to ache. Adding a new member to our family was out of the question I told myself, then I politely picked up a flyer, gave Fergus another pat and headed home.
The next day I called the shelter, hoping to hear the happy news that someone had come to adopt Fergus, (so I could stop worrying about him). But the answer was āNoāā¦no one had adopted the big dog. I called the next day and the day after, but the answer remained the same.
On the third day my daughter, Rayelle and I drove into Philadelphia to find the shelter and adopt Fergus. Bringing Fergus home is such a happy memory - but I also canāt forget the ancient, shivering Chihuahua with the big, sad eyes in the cage right next to Fergus - to this day my heart aches when I remember that little dog.
I hope āWho Wants Broccoli?ā brings loads of smiles to little and big animal lovers. I also hope my picture book encourages families to think about Broccoli (and Fergus) when they think about picking their perfect pet.
Who Wants Broccoli? is out now with several opportunities popping up to share Broccoli (and Fergus) with kids at bookstores, schools and camps. Whenever possible we are encouraging children to bring a pet food item for donation to a local shelter to help feed all of those other big, fun, dogs while they wait to be picked as someoneās perfect pet.
