Thursday, December 3, 2015

Toby's Tails Presents The Christmas Kittens Shared by Susan Keefe... to BRH and Invited Friends...

Merry Christmas! Welcome! Come In! I've invited a few friends in from Pinterest's Christmas Cats Community to hear about the new Toby's Tails books - The Christmas Kittens... But, shhh, right now we're hearing one of my guests sing my favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night... Isn't it beautiful?!



Hello, my name is Toby, I am a Border Collie and
I live on a real smallholding which is called
Fantasy Farm.
Exciting things happen here all the time, but in
this story I am going to tell you about how three
little kittens came to live with us, just before
Christmas.
!!!










Toby has an established series of stories at the Fantasy Farm where he lives with the author. In many ways, he is the "shepherd" watching over the animals to keep them safe... What a wonderful friend, right?!!!



One of the things I especially liked about this story is that you can tell it's a true story, with real animal characters. For instance, take a look at the cat in the
tree of the front cover...he really is not happy to be stuck. Curiosity and cats, right? Me, I haven't had a full Christmas tree since I discovered one of my babies sitting looking up at my tree, ready to pounce! You know what I mean! Take one tree, add one cat...or more...and, well, that's what our story is all about!



Toby's Tails -
The Christmas Kittens

By Susan Keefe
This Book is Dedicated to the Helianthus Charity
10% of the profit fromt his book will be dedicated to the animal shelter



Using color photographs to present her characters, the sense of realism for The Christmas Kittens is unique for children's books. I loved it since readers get to meet each one with their real names and learn all about their activities at Fantasy Farm...

 While these three kittens stand in for them, I should tell you that there were two tortoiseshell girls and one tabby boy...
"Oh, aren't they gorgeous!" Mum said.
Mum was an immediate "sucker" when her friend Peter brought three little kittens  and put them down on the patio where Mum and Dad were having coffee. Peter explained that the mother was feral and she had deserted them when they were weaned. Which was just as well since they were soon to have a new home!

Dad knew what was going to happen and laughingly started thinking about their names!  Their full names were Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Ramesses but you'll learn their nicknames in the book.  Toby went over to touch noses and make them more welcome and soon they were settled in, wondering what came next... Of course, food was one of those things so Mum had to hurry out to the store--food being delivered straight to kittens/cats is the first step to becoming slaves for your new friends...LOL

Toby goes on to tell about the first night, because he was the one chosen--cats were sleeping on his tail or cuddling in tight to his body. Toby claimed he got a little grumpy, but I'm thinking this was not really the case--he was merely showing them who was really in charge!

I'm skipping about their trip to the V-E-T since my invited guests really don't like you-know-who to be talked about much... But, this is certainly part of the educational benefits of the book as the author slips in info about care and safety of animals...

The kittens were soon exploring their new home and Toby showed them around the Farm, soon nearing where Casper was resting... Casper had been on the farm for a long time and he really wasn't interested in those kittens! And he was quick to let them know that!


If the kittens scampered over and tried to say hello he would grumble "Now you three, leave me along, I'm getting old and I want some peace and quiet."
It didn't take long for them to realize he didn't want to play, and they learned to leave him alone, after all there was a whole new world to discover, and interesting new things to do...
                                                                            ~~~
 
Then one day the kittens disappeared! Everybody was worried because they lived in an area where hunting was allowed!


All I can tell you is that they were back at the Farm for Christmas and were soon helping trim the house, of course...








Just in time for gathering around the finished tree to sing more Christmas Carols!

If I haven't said it before, I loved this heartwarming story about the new kittens who came to Fantasy Farm! There are 42 pages, which includes dialogue, with Toby narrating--such fun. You also will have a chance in the back to see more of the stories about those that live at Fantasy Farm. Such a delightful surprise and small enough to stick right into your children's big Christmas stockings! Highly recommended!



GABixlerReviews






Susan Keefe writes the Fantasy Farm children's stories about her lovable Border Collie Toby, the real animals on her smallholding, and the wildlife around it. The Fantasy Farm series of children's books, are educational and fun. They are suitable to read to preschool children, and for older children to read themselves.

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