An entertaining and nurturing story about empathy, compassion, diversity, acceptance, and unconditional love through adoption.
Venny (pronounced Bin-E) and Ecco (pronounced Echo) were adopted by the author and her husband while they were living in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2012.
My Review
I chose to read this book after receiving a free e-copy from the author. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
Venny and Ecco were both wild cats who were adopted by the author and her husband. Now they have a wonderful life, are well-cared for, and play all the time. Such a sweet story! The illustrations by the author are simple but sweet. My grandson loved them!
Included at the end of the book are several activity pages which are fun and great for different ages.
About the Author
Jodi Gab was born and raised in north central South Dakota. She graduated from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
After making her home in Dallas, Texas, she met her husband. Together they moved and lived in Washington, Virginia, Caracas, Venezuela, and Bogota, Colombia, where after 10 years, they returned to Texas.
Jodi and her husband adopted Venny and Ecco while they were living in Caracas, Venezuela in 2012.
When Venny was found, he was by himself, wild and was very skinny. He had an abscessed fractured leg and missing teeth. Venny was easy to tame because he must have known that in his condition he would not survive. He has assumed the role as big brother.
Ecco was living with his family on the U.S. Embassy grounds near where Jodi’s office was. Ecco was extremely wild and very scared of humans. The head guard who captured Ecco, was badly scratched. It took a lot of work and a long time to tame Ecco. He is now a loving and very affectionate cat. He follows Venny and mimics his actions.
While working at the U.S.A. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela the author and her husband became involved with an orphanage in Venezuela. They now are involved with one in Panama. The author wrote a children’s book with many messages and a goal to help adopted children adjust and understand that unconditional love is attainable through adoption. Her book teaches empathy, tolerance, diversity and acceptance. She also hopes to teach young readers kindness and respect for homeless animals.
In 2017 Jodi accomplished her goal of visiting all 50 states.
Jodi, her husband, Venny and Ecco are making their retirement home in Panama. In Jodi’s spare time, she enjoys making crafts, knitting and painting.
Venny and Ecco the Lucky Cats is based on true events.
.
Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults and has authored over a dozen books, some of which have won awards. Her children’s picture book, Frederico the Mouse Violinist was a finalist in the 2011 International Book Awards; her anthology Latina Authors and Their Muses was a First Place winner at the 2016 International Latino Book Awards; her nonfiction book, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, was a Foreword Best Book of the Year winner. Her stories, reviews, interviews and articles have appeared on numerous publications like The Writer, Writer’s Journal, Multicultural Review, Bloomsbury Review, and others.
Born in Queens, New York and living in Los Angeles since 1987, Sheila Fein has always been inspired by the changing world around her. Earning her BA in Design from Buffalo State College of New York, her concentration was on drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography. Sheila’s education as an artist has taken her everywhere from Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia to Bath University in England. Today, Sheila Fein runs two figurative workshops, Imaginings Sketch in LA and People Sketchers in Thousand Oaks. She has been featured in numerous collections, magazines, books, solo and group exhibitions. Her paintings and drawings reside in public and private collections. Sheila loves to make the imagination of others a reality and has done so through her commissioned Fein Fantasy Portraits and Interactive Paintings. In addition to being a fine artist Sheila works as an illustrator. She just completed the book “Mama Graciela’s Secret” for Maclaren-Cochrane Publishing.
~ 
Bound 4 Escape 