My Name is Curly
Hi everyone,
I’m bringing to you a very special children’s book today because while it’s fictional, it’s a story about the author’s real life dog and proceeds go to support a wonderful foundation.
Here’s Andi telling us about her book, My Name is Curly….
Curly had a rough life before we saved him.
The life I envisioned for him inmy children’s picture book, My Name isCurly, is truly fictional. There is no way I could put whatI know of his real-life story into a children’s book – even if, perhaps, itwould show the true nature of what some animals go through before beingrescued.
This is the real, raw story of howI met Curly, and what we know of his life before we gave him a loving foreverhome.
We first learned of Curly andTater Tot through a friend of mine who does rescue work. She knew my husbandand I were looking for a dog after our other one, Allie, a Doberman Pinscherlike Curly, had passed away. We were very adamant that we should rescue an animalinstead of buying one from a breeder.
Curly and Tater Tot were both being held with a county dog warden. My friend said she found them running around the local landfill! They were in bad shape.
[image error] Curly when he was first found
We asked her to please take them to a local veterinarian, as her office was about an hour and half away from our home. We had always wanted two dogs and were so excited to be able to save them, together!
[image error] Tater Tot
The veterinarian examined them.
Curly was extremely underweightand emaciated, while Tater Tot, on the other hand, was overweight. They bothhad worms, terrible skin issues, cuts and abrasions all over their bodies. Thevet said Curly may have had a broken leg at one point. Tater Tot had milk,which means she must have had a litter of puppies at some point, but we had noidea what happened to them.
Curly’s ear is permanentlydeformed. We were told it was likely his previous owner had tried to crop hisears, which is a cruel and disfiguring surgery that is usually performed for“cosmetic” reasons, or to give certain breeds “desirable” traits and to makethem look a certain way. It causes dogs incredible pain and suffering, and isbanned in many countries.
On top of that, because Curly hasVon Willebrand’s disease, which is a bleeding disorder similar to hemophilia inthat his blood does not clot, the cropping had failed terribly. Therefore, hisright ear is all curled up, and he has a lot of trouble with it.
We had the dogs neutered andspayed and groomed, and patched them up as well as we could before taking themhome to rest.
It turns out the two dogs were notas bonded as we had thought. They did not get along at all! We think Tater Totkept Curly from eating any of the food they found when they were out in thewild. It was very obvious that she did not like Curly in the slightest. Shewould growl every time he walked by. Most of her mean behavior was completelyunprovoked. Because she had milk, we wondered if Curly had fathered her puppiesand what had happened to them.
We decided that we could not keepthem both. It’s a shame because she was very sweet and loving toward us. Weknew she would be the perfect dog for someone if she was the only dog. We founda local Doberman rescue group to help us place her in a forever home.
The night before she left us, shelunged for Curly’s throat. I put my leg out to protect him, which stopped her,but that was my sign from above that we could not keep them both and take thechance that one day, if they were by themselves, something terrible mighthappen.
I know she is in a good home todaygetting lots of love from her new family.
Life after TaterTot
Curly adjusted just fine to being the only dog. He likes attention – lots of it – and having all of the toys and treats to himself!
[image error] Curly’s First Christmas!
A little later on, however, afriend of mine rescued another Doberman Pinscher named Luna. She is a beautifulblue Doberman with long legs and big floppy ears. She has freckles all overbelly and feet. We think she had previously been cooped up a lot as everythingseemed new and exciting to her. We brought her over to play with Curly, andthey got along great! The two of them had a blast running around on our landand playing chase.
I remarked to my husband that Ihad a feeling one day Luna would be ours.
And that is exactly what happened!One day, my friend called me and asked me if we would want to take Luna. Ofcourse, we said yes! I picked her up that day and brought her home.
We are so happy that Curly has a sister and playmate. He still likes to hog attention and toys, but I think he would be lost without her. They are so much fun to watch, and they love to “put on a show,” as we call it, with their wrestling moves and funny noises.
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Stay tuned for more adventures with Curly and Luna!
[image error] Author Andi and her dog, Curly
More about Andi with a Q&A interview…
Q: What do you do for a living? And have you always wanted to be a writer?
A: Actually, I wanted to be an FBI agent! I went to Buffalo State College and obtained my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. I was fortunate to have been hired by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service before I graduated, and I was offered full-time employment when I graduated. From there, I worked in Buffalo, NY; Toronto, Canada; and Cleveland, OH, working first as an immigration inspector and then as a district adjudications officer. When I turned thirty, I decided to take the law school admission test to see what would happen. I passed, went to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University for three years, and fifteen years later here I am! I own my own law practice and run two offices. I have five employees, and I assist clients with estate planning, estate and trust administration, and real estate law issues.
In my free time, I started jotting down silly things our rescue dog, Curly, would do. I thought of writing a book, but I felt like I could not move forward without an illustrator. One day in the spring of 2018, I was talking with a client and she mentioned that she knew someone who might be able to help. That is how I came to meet my awesome illustrator, Grace Schlea.
So, while I love to read and play Scrabble, I had never really thought about being a writer until last year.
Q: We know My Name is Curly is based off your own silly pup. Can you tell us a little about him and how you came to adopt him?
A: We lost our first dog, another Doberman Pinscher, named Allie, in November of 2013.We were heartbroken and felt another dog would help us heal. I reached out to my friend Lorie, who is very involved in the local rescue community, because we really wanted to stay with the same breed, but did not want to buy from a breeder. We wanted to adopt ! Lorie did some investigating and put me in contact with a dog warden in another county who had just rescued two Dobermans! They were found running around the county landfill. We were thrilled because we had always wanted two dogs, so we decided to adopt them together. But it turned out that they did not get along, and so we decided to find another loving home for Tater Tot. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately, after learning Curly has hemophilia, we thought it best that we keep him safe from harm.
Q: How did you come up with the name Curly?
A: My husband named Curly! Whoever had Curly first tried to crop his ears. Because of he has a bleeding disorder, one of his ears is now deformed and curled up. That is one reason why he was named Curly. The other reason is because he loves to cuddle and lean into you and curl his body in the shape of C. He is a snugglebug!
Q: When/where did you get the idea to write Curly’s story?
A: I was inspired to write Curly’s story after accumulating notes I had written of all the funny things he does. I started typing notes into my phone. I wasn’t planning on writing a book initially, but after meeting the illustrator, Grace Schlea, I decided to put my notes to good use and see what would happen! One funny story: Curly has a red and green spiky rubber ball that he loves to carry with him wherever he goes. He is always trying to sneak it outside by hiding it in his
mouth (which is really hard to do because it is not a small ball). We try to prevent that so it doesn’t get dirty, but it probably tastes better to him that way! “Ball ball,” as we call it, is his security blanket and it calms him when he is anxious. It has an air hole, so
when he has it in his mouth, he makes sounds like Darth Vadar.
Q: Do you plan to write more books featuring Curly’s crazy adventures?
A: Yes! I have a second book written, but not yet illustrated, about Curly’s life at his new home and meeting his new sister Luna. The two of them get into trouble together! And Rocky the Raccoon may be back with some new friends! I would love for his story to be a series.
Q: How did you get the idea of creating Curly’s Kids Animal Education Fund?
A: I’ve always believed that one way to make life purposeful is give back to the community any way you can. Being involved with animal rescue and helping children are two of my top priorities. I wanted to fund a program similar to one I learned about
in Missouri, where children are brought to local shelters to read to the animals. Not only does this help children with their reading skills, it helps socialize the shelter dogs, which makes them more adoptable. There is no such program like this in our county, but I am currently working on it with our county commissioners and the county dog
warden. Because of my busy life as an attorney, and now as a writer, I thought creating an endowment fund with the Community Foundation of Lorain County was the best way to fund this program, and also to help local rescue organizations in need. I became
familiar with the Community Foundation years ago when I was on their Women’s Committee. They are a terrific organization!
Q: Have you always been an animal advocate?
A: My parents surprised me with our first dog, Jake, when I was 10 years old. I have loved dogs ever since! I became involved with the rescue world through my friend, Karin. She trained our first Doberman, Allie, and has rescued countless dogs. It was
after I met her and heard her story that I began helping with transporting dogs to their new homes via the Rescue Railroad! Since then, my lawyer life has become busier so I am unable to do this anymore, but I find the best way to help is through making
monetary donations, which is another reason why I created Curly’s Kids.
Q: What impact do you hope this book has on the children and parents who read it?
A: My hope is that children and their parents will consider rescuing a pet before buying one. There is something very special about a rescue animal – I really think they appreciate what you have done for them, and they do not forget. Both of our rescues, Curly and Luna, are so loving and sweet, and I think every animal deserves the
opportunity to be rescued.
Q: How can people get involved in their own local communities?
A: There are so many ways to get involved! From transporting dogs to their new homes, to walking or taking care of dogs at your local animal shelters, to donating money or supplies to rescue organizations, to sharing dogs that need homes on social
media – every little bit helps!
Q: Where can we learn more about Curly’s Kids Animal Education Fund?
A: You can learn more by contacting the Community Foundation of Lorain County at
(440) 984-7390, or by visiting their website at https://www.peoplewhocare.org/. And
donations can be made by following this link:
https://lorain.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=2416
More about Andi’s Community Foundation…
The Curly’s Kids Animal Education Fund was created by Andrea C. Kryszak to support children’s reading programs to animals; programs that bring children and rescue animals together in a meaningful way; and to support Lorain County animal rescue organizations. Research has shown that when
children read to animals, it not only helps with reading skills, but it also helps to socialize, bring comfort to and reduce the anxiety of shelter pets. It also nurtures empathy in children and allows children who may not have a pet of their own, to spend time with an animal in need of love and affection. Grant money from the Fund will also be distributed to local animal rescue organizations that work tirelessly to help animals in need.
My Name is Curly was published by Wisdom House Books
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And here is my review of the book
Curly finds a forever home
I was very pleased to assist this publishing house and author in getting the word out about this book because it tells a wonderful story of a dog being rescued off the streets and also because proceeds assist a fantastic rescue foundation named after Curly.
My Name is Curly is a picture book with very cute illustrations throughout. One can’t help but fall in love with curious Curly as he wanders away from home. The rhymes are fun and move along at a nice clip. I think children would enjoy hearing the story read to them and parents would enjoy reading it.
I highly recommend this book because it is a very well written quality book and has a good story to tell young ones about rescuing a pet. Maybe if children are wanting to get a pet, parents can chose this book to read to them to encourage a conversation about adopting of a rescue instead of purchasing a dog from a store.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book! I wish the author and publishing house and foundation every success.
