An Early Mother's Day Story

Just had to share this heartwarming video of motherly love at work. Enjoy!

Many thanks to Patti May for sending this along.

Sit Stay Read Inspires Philly Program

Here's a great story about a new reading dog program in Philadelphia--inspired by Sit Stay Read!

Veterinarian Amy Brenner contacted us after seeing the story on the NBC Nightly News and I was so excited to learn that she decided to jump right in and get kids and dogs together for some reading fun (especially because my mom was from Philly!)

Thanks for the mention, Amy. We look forward to the day the Chicago curriculum will be available so you can offer the full Sit Stay Read experience. Until then, KEEP READING!

Feel Good Video of the Day

Apparently this is dedicated to the memory of Maria. Very cool.

Sound of Music Train Station @ Yahoo! Video

Rock For Reading Truly Rocks

It's a busy time at the Sit Stay Read office as we start organizing for the big Reading Rewards Celebration in all our classrooms. That's right, the end of the school year will be here before you know it.

At the celebration, each of our 350 students gets to choose books of their very own to keep and one to give to a younger reader. That means we need a LOT of books.

We're so grateful to our friends at Rock For Reading for their donation of nearly 600 books! You ROCK!

Jenn and Allison had a blast sorting the books--and, as you can see, Shandy supervised.

Bo Obama Joins Historic Presidential Dogs

Read all about it!

In her latest cartoon, Sit Stay Read board president MK Czerwiec welcomes Bo Obama--and offers a great look at past presidential dogs.

Thanks for the smiles, MK!

Have Some Photo Fun--and Share

That's Rocky, our Sit Stay Read Dog of the Year--we always knew he was a work of art!

Had a blast making these photos of some of our dogs. Try it yourself on this fun site! Send me your pix (not the racy ones, please) and I'll add them to the album.

Click on the photo to see the album.

Photofunia

Announcing Leo Jack Hanau

On April 1st (no fooling) Sit Stay Read board member Seth Hanau and his wife, Jen, welcomed Leo Jack into the world.

As you can see, he's a handsome fellow and settling in nicely with the canine members of the family. That's Kibbles (one of Tibbie's siblings) getting a closer look at baby Leo.

Congratulations Seth and Jen! We can't wait to meet Leo Jack.

Stand By Me

I was moved to tears by this video. Not only by the beauty of the music but by the faces of all these folks playing "together". Just like Matt dancing with people all around the world, it truly brings home the truth that people are the same wherever you go and we're all in this together. Let's remember to keep singing and dancing (and reading!) together.

Thanks to Holly Schneider for the link. You made my day.


Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Survive the Recession--Advice from Ben Stein

Ben Stein with some heartfelt advice--get a dog to survive the recession. Many thanks to Montana Hayes for the link.

Eco Dog Helps Bees

Did you know dogs are working to help save bees from Colony Collapse Disorder? Klinker, a Labrador retriever, is trained to sniff out bacteria that causes disease in hives. How great is that?

Bees may not be man's best friend but, as one expert puts it, "If it were not for the honeybees, there would not be enough food on Planet Earth to support life as we know it."

See Klinker in action.

Lulu--Another Dog Rescuer

James, a student in the Sit Stay Read program at Schiller School near Cabrini-Green, knows dogs can be heroes--especially his reading buddy, Lulu. (Click on the story to enlarge.)

Hero Dog Saves Wounded Dog

People debate whether dogs can love, show compassion, etc, etc. For me, this says it all. Get out your hankies (but don't worry, it has a happy ending.) Thanks to Tom Dohm for the link.