A New Leash on Life

Some people have a pet in their life that is the center of their world, or at least a major part of it. The pets are showered with unlimited love and attention when they are the only “baby” in the house. What happens though when your pet baby is replaced by a real baby? What happens when that real baby begins to grow up and explore the world around him or her (including the family pet)? These questions and more are raised and answered in the picture book A New Leash On Life written by Kara Hamilton and illustrated by Alexandria Gold. This book shows pet owners in this great big world, that gets bigger every day, there is plenty of room for everyone with two legs or more.

A New Leash On Life is a fantastic picture book that when first read, can be seen as a wonderful book for teaching children about how to behave around pets. However, author Kara Hamilton takes it a step further and turns it into an enjoyable story for children as well as an informational and instructional book for adults with pets who may be adding to their family. The beautiful illustrations done by Alexandria Gold are very engaging and will easily capture the attention of young audiences.

This is beneficial to the book not only for entertainment purposes but also because it shows children what the story is saying so they are able to see what the right and wrong ways are to interact with pets. I especially like the portion at the end of the book geared specifically towards adults. Many times, books like these are written with the hope the adult will learn along with the child, and unfortunately, sometimes books like this turn into just another story book. The information provided outlines step-by-step the introduction of a new family member to a pet, how to teach a child to interact with their own or other people’s pets and more. Very well written, great message, and the addition of the donation of a portion of the profits from the book being donated to The Humane Society of the United States puts this book over the top for me. Well done!