When I was younger, people asked if I had pets. I told them I had a brother and a sister. If you ever met them, you wouldn’t say I was lying. I wanted a dog for a long time. That desire was tempered a bit when I was attacked by a dog.

Wife and I had a dog when we first moved into our house. The dog had behavioral issues, and we were expecting our first child at the time. This resulted in the difficult decision to give up the dog. We weren’t sure our new baby would be safe. Another dog would come to join our family, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Boy told us he would like a cat. He was fond of them when he was a smaller lad. We lived with our neighbor for a time when our house was being renovated. Much to his joy and pleasure, our neighbor had two cats. The more playful of the two was named Vero, and The Boy loved playing with her.

Renovations were complete at our house, and we were able to move back home. Not long after moving back in, we celebrated The Boy’s birthday. On this particular occasion, he received cat food and kitty litter for his birthday. He was puzzled about the gifts, and it took him a while to realized what said gifts were going to be put towards. His face lit up when he was told we were getting a cat. That was when Kitty joined our family.

I’ve written about kitty a few times. Same for doggie. Lovie found a post online for Doggie during Coronapalooza. She convinced the family to get her. We sat in a room, all of us wearing masks, and became acquainted with what would become the latest four-legged addition to our family.

She isn’t a bad dog; she just needed to be reminded that the bipeds called the shots at this house. I would come downstairs in the morning, and she would jump off the couch. She knows the couch is off-limits, and I would hear her scurry when I made my way downstairs.

There are animal people, and there are people who aren’t animal people. Either way is fine, and people on both sides have their reasons.

Adventures in the Rainforest

I was introduced to a book about animals. The book, “Somewhere Over the Rainforest” by Andrew Keith Slayton, follows a boy named Oliver who can communicate with animals like Jasper, a raven. This gift comes in handy when he befriends a stray dog named Scratch. The two immediately become best friends and go everywhere and do everything together.

“You know what they remind me of? Us! They make me think of how we, too, are all different from one another – yet we all get along famously without so much as a fight or argument amongst ourselves, like so many animals do.”
– Oliver Wendell Applegate

Animals who live in the rainforest are also able to communicate with Oliver. This comes in handy when animals are captured for a zoo owned by Barnaby Vandenburg, a ruthless tycoon who has plans for a zoo holding rare animals from rainforest. Vandenburg hopes the rare and little-known animals will be enough of a draw to lure paying customers to a one-of-a-kind zoo he is building. The animals are captured by poachers who hold them until the animal’s holding areas are complete.

Scratch learns of the captured animals and breaks them out of the holding area. Vandenburg finds out about the dog and is furious. He convinces the local police to take Scratch and punish him for breaking and trespassing on private property. Oliver’s father, Grayson, does all he can for Scratch, but his checkered past and questionable business practices won’t make that easy, and Vandenburg knows it.

Pets Basic Needs

Taking care of animals isn’t an easy job. Dogs need to be let out or walked when nature calls. Animals need to be fed. This requires time and money. It would be easy if we could communicate them in a way they could speak to up and we would understand them. Unfortunately, we all don’t have Oliver’s gift, so we need to rely on other methods of communication, like Doggie ringing a bell hanging on the door to tell us she needs to go outside and do her business.

Kitty has a box for that. I clean the box out every week. She’s grateful for that. She doesn’t specifically say so, but she and I are so close I know she is. Again, this requires a little extra effort on the humans’ part, but it’s a necessary one when you’re taking care of pets and trying to keep the house clean and tidy.

Pets need food, exercise, companionship. Having a pet requires a lot of work and effort. Walking Doggie is something I like to do because it gets me out and exercising. It’s also good for the dog.

“All of you are our planet’s future. You must remember, your future depends on what you do today for tomorrow.”
– Chief Kayakoma

Andrew’s book teaches us a lot about the rainforest and how we can take care of the world we live in. He also talks about animals and how we can help them. There are a lot of animals who eat bugs and other pests. Food we need can grow in forests or on farms. It’s important that we keep air and water clean. “Somewhere Over the Rainforest” tells the story of a boy who is faced with saving himself and his friends from tight squeezes. Along the way, he learns from animals and native tribes how the environment and people work together for everyone’s benefit. It’s a book you or your child will enjoy reading. Not only are there exciting chapters inside, but it will teach you about the rainforest and the benefits it has for everyone with two or four legs.