A little Refugee Dog

How I came to write and illustrate these books

 

The story started in Romania when a little stray dog was hit by a car and left lying hurt and crying by the side of the road.  He was rescued  by a lady called Elena who heard his cries.  She took him  home and nursed him until he was well again.  She then sent him (with sadness in her heart) to England where he could have a better life, and he came to live with me. (See Ruffy's Scrapbook)

 

Elena had a little boy called David.  When David was about eight years old Elena wrote to me and asked if I could help David with learning English.  That is when I started to write the Frosty and Blackie books. (See page 2 of The Hole in the Tree).

 

So these books of stories, paintings and interactive material were specially written with young  (and not so young) refugee readers in mind. They are not a course in English as a Second Language, but could be used as supporting material, or they can be enjoyed  simply as stories.   There are light-hearted silly rhymes to help with spelling and pronounciation, and opportunities for practising reading out loud.  For this important activity it would be ideal for readers to be guided by an experienced English-speaker.

 

In the last section are two short stories written in simple English.  In addition I hope you will enjoy my art section, in which I invite you to provide your own descriptive words and thoughts to some of my paintings  Finally the Poetry section offers some challenging and thoughtful material for a more advanced reader.

 

Pauline W. 2024