Genre Fiction

I had fun, but very different and interesting, trip to Barnes & Noble this weekend.

As I entered, I was greeted by a friendly mutt with the face of a Greyhound and the tail end of a collie. Frankie turned out to be an incredibly friendly - and well-behaved - rescue dog who was at the store supporting his shy friend Violet. Violet was a young beagle who had just been released from an animal testing facility. Violet had been destined to have a kidney removed and numerous experiments performed on her to study how she survived with only one kidney. However, Vi got a skin rash and was disqualified from the study. The lucky dog’s rash cleared up after she was rescued, and has never returned.

The dogs were at the bookstore representing two local beagle rescue groups - B.R.E.W. and Cascade. Reps from the groups were offering free gift wrapping, and seemed to be receiving a substantial amount of donations.

Next to the pups was Joe Kulka, a local children’s book author and illustrator. I stopped to say hello and look at his books. I picked up Wolf’s Coming!, despite the mean-looking wolf on the cover. I began reading. The first several pages feature all kinds of animals shouting “run,” “hide,” “Wolf’s coming!” I was prepared to lecture Mr. Kulka … until I turned another page: the animals were running and hiding because they had a surprise party planned for Wolf.

The book is wonderful. Buy it for all the kids in your life … and do it at Barnes & Noble, because you never know what you might see while you’re there!