Nuts! Our Backyard, A True Story, Mostly is a 20,000-word, 14-chapter story with 25 illustrations and 10 songs based on our rescue dog from the Bronx bringing a baby squirrel into our house on March 15, 2020 (the beginning of the pandemic).
Story line -- Left homeless and alone to wander the streets of the Bronx, the sturdy, little Havanese Chow dog, Little Bear, faces the challenges of unfamiliar and sometimes unfriendly people, animals, and birds. In recognition of his destiny to help awaken the people and heal the Earth, he is knighted as Sir Little Bear by some strange, magical dog catchers and sent to Georgia and Mark's house in the suburbs. Sir Little Bear teams up with all the Critters and Birds in the backyard, and then he gets Rocky, aka The Rock, the Baby Squirrel into Georgia and Mark's house where they raise him until he's old enough to be on his own. Through Georgia's postings of Rocky's cute antics on social media, he becomes widely known and loved. The people awaken more to the Earth's environmental issues during the pandemic, which has exacerbated the division, isolation, confusion, and fear in the human community and has put the Earth itself at risk. All come together to heal in the end.
