Missouri made children’s book about rescue dog hits store shelves (AUDIO)

by | Jan 3, 2022 | Education, Entertainment, News, Show Me Today

A new book on store shelves has an important message for children. “Roscoe to the Rescue” explains some of the ways dogs can rescue people and how dogs and people can rescue each other.

The book is a ten-year labor of love by author Stacy Morse of Columbia.

Image permission from Stacy Morse

“It was really exciting to finally hold it in my hands,” says Morse. “Just like so many other people, when I come home to my dogs, that’s the best part of my day.”

She explains how the book was born.

“This was my brother’s dog and yes, his name was Roscoe after Rosco P. Coltrane on ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’. He’s a little black lab mutt that was found on the side of the road and brought into his work. My brother took him home. Then I ended up having a really bad day. I went to my brother’s house and I said, ‘I’m taking Roscoe.’ He said, ‘Okay’. So I dog napped Roscoe for about a year,” she says.

Image permission from Stacy Morse

Morse is a former elementary school teacher. So, she knows a thing or two about the importance of kids learning to read.

“This book is great for babies, toddlers, elementary school kids, because really, you want to start reading to children as soon as you can. If you think about how many words children hear in a home that doesn’t have any books around versus a child that is read to even just for a few minutes every night. That’s why children are coming to preschool with such different skill levels. So, this is a great book that very young kids can enjoy, as well as all the way through elementary school. One thing that’s really special about this book are the beautiful illustrations from my illustrator in Macedonia. When I was directing her on what I wanted in the illustrations, and even when I was writing the words, it was really important to be sure that every noun every action was shown in the pictures because those picture cues help reinforce the reading skills for kids,” says Morse.

Image permission from Stacy Morse

Morse says the book represents everyone and it’s teaching children how to be good citizens.

“It’s multicultural,” she says. That was really important to me that the characters didn’t look the same throughout the book. You’re not just getting a book about dogs, you are getting a beautifully illustrated story about how we can rescue each other and how dogs can rescue us. I think that there are a lot of great books out there, but this book is one that kids are going to want to read over and over again, and hopefully, continue the lessons that they learn in the book in real life.”

The book has several corresponding educational materials.

“Having the audio version means that parent can buy the ebook or the paperback and then have the audio version that is reading the story to the children. So that’s reinforcing the words and the enrichment guide. It has coloring pages. It has a word search, parts of speech, exercises, as well as discussion questions in activities that go along with a book.”

“Roscoe to the Rescue” was written, publish and printed in the Show-Me State.

It is available at Downtown Book & Toy in Jefferson City. It is also available, along with other corresponding materials, on roscoetotherescue.com

To hear the full interview, click below.

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