Book of My Pet: In Celebration of Pets

I wish I had copies of this book for every companion animal I ever had! Right now, I have three copies I'm keeping memories in -- one for each of my three dogs. I will be sure to purchase a new copy for each new furry friend that I adopt in the future. The "memory joggers" are very helpful while making entries from a pet's birth to crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

We recently got our first dog, a cute little black mix, named Blackie, for our young boys Welsey and Paul. They will probably have many pets in their lives but since they are only 3 and 5 now they will not remembers many of the special moments of their first pet Blackie. My husband and I are using The Book of My Pet to capture the life of Blackie so our boys can look back on the joys and responsibilities of caring for their first dog and share it with their kids when they grow up. Great book idea for pet lovers.

I know lots of pet owners who would get into this. The design is handsome, not overly cutesy like some. The memory-jogging prompts are v. good...some funny, some reflective, some factual. I like the way they are organized into chapters with subsections: 1. How to Write Your Pet's Story 2. Starting Out (Getting Ready, How We Met, Family Tree) 3. The First Year (Settling In, Getting to Know My Pet, Making & Breaking the Rules) 4. The Prime of Life (Personality, Pleasures, Habits & Health, Talents) 5. The Advanced Years (Winding Down, Maturing Ways) 6. Saying Good-bye (The Passing, Looking Back)

When I was a child and then a young mother, keeping a "baby book" of those born into the family was common. It was a way of documenting the events of the life of this important person and celebrating his/her uniqueness. The Book of My Pet offers that kind of possibility for the beloved animals who become significant parts of our families. This book evokes those memories you might forget by asking thoughtful questions in many categories. The whole family can participate in creating this remembrance at anytime in the life of your pet. It is also possible to mount pictures in the book to make it a visual as well as verbal story of your shared life with this mysterious, special being. I am using it to tell the story of Gray, our cat who has graciously taken us into her life.