Tales for Tails Book Highlights Human-Animal Bond
Sacramento, CA – Last night, RedRover and 916 Ink held a special reception to honor eight local authors for their shortstories about the human-animal bond. Children between 8 and 12 years old entered the writing contest for a chance to be featured in the book Tales for Tails, to choose animals to be adopted at no charge, and to win prizes.
The contest prompted children to use their imaginations to write short stories from either a pet’s point of view, the point of view of an animal in a shelter, or about a day spent with their pet best friend. Tales for Tails is available for purchase online at https://www.916ink.org/our-books.
“You shouldn’t write with your head, you should write with your heart.” – Aviana, 11 years old
“My story was a personal thing for me. I was supposed to get a husky for my hearing.” – Erica, now 13 years old
Nicole Forsyth, President and CEO of RedRover said, “We are thrilled to partner with 916 Ink on this project to help youth develop their writing skills while developing empathy towards animals. Research has shown that developing empathy may be the best way to prevent acts of violence and abuse and, therefore, critical to creating a more compassionate society for both animals and people.”
RedRover focuses on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the human-animal bond through emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and humane education for children. This contest aligned with the RedRover Readers program which helps students explore the human-animal relationship and develop critical thinking and empathy.
Since 2011, 916 Ink has led efforts to promote youth literacy by empowering the youth voice through creative writing workshops. They have published more than 85 books, serving more than 3,300 young authors in the Sacramento region.
Justin Self, Executive Director of 916 Ink said, “916 Ink’s mission is to empower children and youth through creative writing, and in this project we found that the human-animal connection was an exceptional source of inspiration and creativity for the students that we work with.”
Prizes were awarded at the reception. First place winners in each age group became a Sacramento SPCA Pet Ambassador and will choose an animal to have its adoption fees waived (covered by RedRover); will have their story hung in the SSPCA lobby; and received a certificate for one free week of SSPCA’s Kindness Summer Camp, as well as a $100 Barnes and Noble gift card. Second place winners received a free field trip for 30 students to 916 Ink’s Imaginarium writing workshop. Third place winners received $30 Barnes & Noble gift cards. All published authors received two copies of the Tales for Tails book compilation.
“What inspired my story was my dog Stripe and our new puppy who was getting all the attention.” – Alex, 12 years old
About RedRover
Now in their 30th year, RedRover focuses on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the human-animal bond through three programs that provide emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education. RedRover Readers has reached 67,000 children nationwide and trained more than 1,644 teachers, humane educators and volunteers in 14 states to implement the program. For the third consecutive year, RedRover’s sound fiscal management practices and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. To learn more, visit www.RedRover.org or www.RedRover.org/media-kit.
About 916 Ink
916 Ink’s mission is to transform children and youth into confident writers and published authors who know the power of story and their unique voices. To date, 916 Ink has published more than 3300 young people in more than 85 beautiful books. Learn more about them at www.916ink.org.
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Contact:
Sheri Madsen
916.429.2457 ext. 310
916.600.8157 cell
smadsen@redrover.org