Character Building Books for Children!

I have been recommending books for children to read this summer and another two that would be motivating for your children are by Lisa Wiehebrink.  Lisa established the nonprofit foundation Tails That Teach to promote character building in children, including taking good care of their pets, and literacy.  Her focus is children ages 5 -8 years old.

Her books Love Me Gently – A Kid’s Guide for Man’s Best Friend and Gray Whiskers – A Kid’s Guide for Loved Ones Growing Older are about a boy and his rescue dog’s journeys toward patience, compassion, kindness, and empathy.  Her book Love Me Gently has won awards, including the 2020 Purple Dragonfly Award and from PETA.

        Lisa partners with elementary schools and animal organizations all over the US to teach humane education, using her books as teaching tools. She is also the founder of National Rescue Dog Day, celebrated on May 28 annually, which was established primarily to bring attention to all the dogs that are available in shelters for adoption. 

On the website, Lisa explains why she has dedicated her work to this cause:

When children are taught to be kind to animals, the ripple effects are boundless and they are less likely to abuse a pet or bully a classmate. Teaching kids to properly care for pets helps them grow up to be compassionate adults and responsible pet owners.

         Lisa was an inspiring guest on my podcast Be Convinced! Sharing Lifechanging Stories of Hope. The podcast, episode #28, is available at sorayadiasecoffelt.com. She shares how it all began when she observed a small child at the park playing roughly with a dog; why she wrote the books; and how she is dedicated to promoting character building and humane education. You will certainly enjoy listening to her share her story of hope!

For more information and to purchase her books, please visit www.tailsthatteach.org.

African American History & Culture for Children

             As the celebrated orator and journalist Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”  For many families, finding worthwhile information on African American history and culture is challenging.  Along comes Amber O’Neal Johnston who began homeschooling her 3 children and wanted to help them learn more about themselves.  I would like to highlight Amber in this week’s blog post.

She began researching to find information to teach her children.  Before long, she had amassed a rich collection of information and knowledge about African American history and culture that she used to teach her children and wanted to share with others.  She established the website heritagemom.com which is filled with her writings, information she has found, and recommendations.  She acknowledges that the purpose behind what she does is “raising black kids to love themselves and others.”  She is a Christian and the name for her website is from Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” (KJV).

I came across Amber when I was looking at various Instagram accounts.  I immediately was drawn to her postings and visited her website to find out more.  As a person who loves history and promotes the importance of reading, I was very impressed with the variety of information she has collected and written about to help other parents as well as teachers educate their children.

I interviewed Amber for my podcast Be Convinced! Sharing Lifechanging Stories of Hope and you can listen to podcast #18 at https://www.sorayadiasecoffelt.com/podcast. It does not matter what race or nationality you are. I am certain that you will enjoy the podcast as well as learn from her website.