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🔗 http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401979/deirdre-conner/2010-05-19/local-author-imagines-dogs-angels
Story Behind The Book
Every pooch has a tale to tell. How they met their person...the unconditional love between them and their person...and the pawprints left behind. I've had dogs all my life. My dog Ginger grew with me from when I was just 3 years old to age 18. Next came my my dog Mandy, who saw me through college and moved out with me to my first home of my own. When Mandy passed I was devestated and my father's dog Lindsey came to live with me to ease the pain. And that's where it all began. Lindsey was a character...she was a dog who thought she was a cat and was super spoiled from living with my dad who was retired and had spent every moment of the day with her. I had to adjust my life around Lindsey. I brought Lindsey to work with me one day. I worked with emotionally challanged teens in a government facitlity. Most of them, being abuse survivors, did not trust adults. But with a little dog's presence and love they opened up their feelings while petting and brushing Lindsey. Lindsey came to work with me everyday...she earned the name, little angel in fur. Lindsey and I were a team for several years and then her health began to deteriorate, simply due to old age. She went blind, deaf, and it was becoming more difficult for her to walk. So we adjusted to her needs and we made her a buggy to push her in so she could still enjoy her daily strolls around the neighborhood. It was when she started to have breathing problems that my dad decided it was time for us to be strong for Lindsey and he brought her to the vet to be laid to sleep. My next dog I named Xia. The meaning behind the name is a special one, it means the glow of a sunrise. And I noticed that Xia had one little bright pink toe. All the rest were black. My imagination took over. I started thinking...all my other dogs played major roles in my life, what roll would this little puppy play? What if her pink little toe had a meaning behind it? What if it meant that she was special...held some type of power, a legend behind the pink toe perhaps? I began to write and the fantastical story filled with mystery, love, and adventure of how dogs are made for us was born and I named it, Angel in a Fur Coat.
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<h1 align="center"><font style="font-size:20px;">Author Showcase: Cynthia L. Enuton</font></h1> <p class="postdate" style="text-align:center;">Posted by <a href="http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/author/admin/" title="Posts by Bianca Schulze"><font color="#990000">Bianca Schulze</font></a> on June 15, 2010 · <a href="http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2010/06/cynthia-l-enuton.html#respond"><font color="#990000">Leave a Comment</font></a></p> <p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#333333;">By Cynthia L. Enuton, for <a href="http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/03/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/weblog/2010/"><font color="#990000">The Children’s Book Review</font></a><br /> Published: May 25, 2010</span></p> <p style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Angel in a Fur Coat" height="300" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-VZ3we7hL.jpg" width="214" /> <br /><br /><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/thechisboorev-20/detail/1934666335"><font color="#990000">Angel in a Fur Coat: A fiction fantasy</font></a></p> <p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Author:</strong> Cynthia L. Enuton<br /><strong>ISBN:</strong> 978-1-934666-33-3<br /><strong>Published:</strong> High Pitched Hum Publishing, February 2009<br /><strong>Reading level:</strong> 7+ for anyone who has ever shared love with a dog<br /><strong>Soft cover:</strong> 228 pages with scattered black and white illustrations</p> <p>It’s true! Angels are trading their wings and halos for fur coats and bones to be born on earth as dogs but first they must learn what it means to be a dog so they go to school.</p> <p>The book explores the wonderful world of dogs through the eyes of one little special angel named Xia who bears a pink polka dot birth mark. Xia is encouraged by her mentor, a bird named Opus, a world traveler, to follow the path of her ancestors and become a guardian angel but Xia’s everlasting dream is to be a person’s best friend…she wants to be a dog.</p> <p>Xia joins her buddy Bernie at the Heavenly K9 Academy. Bernie is only a few semesters away from earning his fur coat so Xia is placed in a different class being teamed up with a newbie like herself—Nitwit, the class clown.</p> <p>The unlikely partners are in for a world-wind adventure as they enter the K9 simulation exercise where team work is essential. They morph into various rescue dogs to perform life saving duties and they travel back in time on earth to historical lands via the Academy’s magical Interactive breed cube to learn about the history of various dog breeds. The antics and tolerance of the duo during the lessons on The Art of Bark, Tail Wagging Aerobics, and the sniffing laboratory experiments are comical, while the moral message in the telling of the story Gooberella showing the epitome of unconditional love is heartwarming.</p> <p>After receiving her assigned person’s information, Xia embarks on a personal journey over the rainbow to find her person’s previous angel dogs in the hopes to learn as much as she can about her person so she can be the best dog she can be.</p> <p>Will Xia graduate from the Heavenly k9 Academy? What secrets will the past angel dogs reveal? Does her special pink polka dot relate her to the infamous legend of the pink toe or is it just a coincident?</p> <blockquote> <p><em>“Angel in a Fur Coat is an absolutely delightful and immensely entertaining story to read. I appreciated the writing, warmth and feeling generated within the pages of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to others. I am looking forward to reading more titles by C.L. Enuton.”</em><br /><em><em>Connie Harris TCM Reviews</em></em></p> </blockquote> <p>Author/illustrator, Cynthia Enuton, worked with emotionally challenged children for 13+ years utilizing a group of therapy dogs and their handlers within a state treatment facility. Inspired by the healing connection of animals coupled with the comical companionship and love of her own dogs and a sprinkle of vivid imagination, her first book, Angel in a Fur Coat, emerged.</p> <p>More books are to follow with missions and adventures of Fur Angels on earth. The legend of the Pink Toe has begun.</p> <p>An autographed book to you and your Fur Angel is available directly from the author’s website at <a href="http://www.gooberella.com/"><font color="#990000">http://www.Gooberella.com</font></a></p> <p>The reader can also include their own pet into the Fur Angel fantasy with a customized Fur Angel necklace or magnet of their own furry loved one at <a href="http://www.angelsinafurcoat.com/"><font color="#990000">http://www.AngelsinaFurCoat.com</font></a></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> Click <a href="http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2010/06/cynthia-l-enuton.html"><font color="#0066cc">here</font></a> to view the The Author Showcase site</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <div> <p style="text-align:center;font-size:11px;"> </p> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="right" style="width:0px;" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" style="width:100%;" valign="top"> <div class="h3color tiny" style="margin-bottom:.5em;font-weight:bold;"> </div> <div style="margin-bottom:.5em;"><span style="margin-right:5px;"><span class="swSprite s_star_5_0"><span>5.0 out of 5 stars</span></span> </span><span style="vertical-align:middle;"><strong>Tightly written, a bit silly, and exceptionally charming</strong>, March 31, 2010</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom:.5em;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">By</td> <td><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2AXEAIGHWZNVQ/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><font color="#003399">Pet Serrano <span style="white-space:nowrap;">"Pet"</span></font></span></a> (South Dakota) - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2AXEAIGHWZNVQ/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview"><font color="#0066cc">See all my reviews</font></a></td> </tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="tiny" style="margin-bottom:.5em;"><strong><span class="h3color tiny"><font color="#e47911">This review is from: </font></span>Angel in a Fur Coat (Paperback)</strong></div> I found this book via twitter. I have a goal of reading 43 random books mentioned online and I'm interested in animal stories, so I picked it up. I am usually much more harsh on animal and sci fi books than other books because my expectations are higher. I was pleasantly surprised with this one.<br /><br /> Disclosure: The author's spokesdog and my cat follow each other on Twitter, but we had not spoken that I know of before I told her I was writing a review, and in fact I only decided to write one because I thought the book was good enough to warrant my time. If it had been mediocre or terrible, or if having "Angel" in the title meant it turned out to be some kind of badly conventional after-Sunday-School special starring dogs, I wouldn't have bothered. (I probably wouldn't even have told her I bought it!) On to the review:<br /><br /> In "Angel in Fur Coat", Sparky is unable to concentrate on her tasks as a guardian angel and decides to attend dog classes instead. Her best friend, Bernie, is already in dog school and although Sparky is somewhat of a misfit, she seems ideally suited to her new studies.<br /><br /> In simplest terms, the book follows Sparky's transformation from angel to dog. Dogs are sent to earth to perform certain tasks. Nitwit, for instance, excels at police work in the competency tests and is assigned to become a police dog. Sparky's sense of humor and enthusiasm get her assigned to a family who has lost another beloved dog.<br /><br /> This could easily have turned into some kind of Pollyanna story, but it doesn't. The angels tease each other, there's a little bit of propaganda and bureaucracy in the school work and final assignments, and Sparky's fluency in bird, cat and dolphin seems to get her in more trouble, not less.<br /><br /> Sparky's schooling and the technology involved are imaginative and the characters are well-defined without resorting to stereotyping. The dialogue rings true and there are clever uses of illustrations and typefaces that lend a touch of graphic novel to the layout. Ways historical dogs interacted with humans and the personal stories of dogs who have returned to heaven are woven naturally into the school lessons and dialogue.<br /><br /> Likes: Sparky/Xia has a touch of sarcasm about her that made her inner monologues a delight to read. The depictions of the fallen angels exhibit a lighthearted mischief more than ultimate evil.<br /><br /> Dislikes: When I was about 80% through the book, I realized there weren't enough pages left to find out what the prophecy was all about. Gah! It's sort of like when you're watching a TV show and realize it's going to be a "To Be Continued". It does, however, end with Sparky arriving on Earth as the puppy Xia at last. The series is 4 books long and this is only book one.<br /><br /> I found it to be a captivating and consistently funny story appropriate for children, but with subtleties that will appeal to adults who love animals.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Fur-Coat-Cynthia-Enuton/dp/1934666335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274825116&sr=1-1"><font color="#0000ff" style="font-size:11px;"><strong>Amazon review link</strong></font></a></td> </tr></tbody></table></div> <p><br /><em><font color="#bc17c8"> </font></em></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <table border="0" width="461"><tbody><tr><th valign="top" width="120"> </th> <td style="width:325px;"> <div style="text-align:left;"> <p>Angel in a Fur Coat<br /> C.L. Enuton<br /> High-Pitched Hum Publishing<br /> ISBN: 9781934666333<br /> Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy<br /> Reviewed by Connie Harris<br /> </p> </div> </td> </tr></tbody></table><p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Sparky, short for Sparkilena, is a Spiritual Being and is in training to become a good Guardian Angel. The sole purpose of the Guardian Angel is to protect their assigned people which is a difficult job since the fallen angels are always working to make things difficult. Sparky decides she wants to return to earth as a dog. Sparky wants to trade in her wings and halo for a fur coat and a bone. But before Sparky can get her fur coat she must complete classes at the Heavenly K9 Academy.</p> <p>Once Sparky has completed her seven week training course at the Heavenly K9 Academy she will be born as the breed of dog she has chosen to be after doing much research into the different breeds of dogs. After mastering the bark and learning that a good bark comes from the diaphragm, not the throat, Sparky has many more classes to learn to be a proper dog. The dog name given to Sparky is Xia which means the glow of a sunrise and sunset. Sparky, or Xia, awaits the day of her earthly birth, knowing it will be worth all the work to get there because the dog and people bond is a match made in heaven, and a dog is sent from heaven to people as a reflection of God's love.</p> <p>Angel in a Fur Coat is an absolutely delightful and immensely entertaining story to read. I appreciated the writing, warmth and feeling generated within the pages of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to others. I am looking forward to reading more titles by C.L. Enuton.<br /><br /><a href="http://tcm-ca.com/reviews/3572.html"><font color="#0000ff" style="font-size:11px;"><strong>TCM reviews Blog link</strong></font></a></p>