In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt was depicted in an editorial cartoon, rather satirically, demonstrating mercy to a frail and ailing bear while on a hunt. He refused to shoot the bear which was emaciated and ill. This small gesture and the resulting media translated into Teddy Bears. Books containing anthropomorphized animal characters were soon published and […]
Author: Carol Cross
Help Us Help Them
OUR GOAL: Adopt 5,000 Endangered Species Animals by May 2024. Adopt 50,000 Endangered Species Animals by May 2028. Let’s not miss them, Let’s save them! DarkShadeDragon.com – books sold for $21.99 – we will use $2.19 to adopt animals. Books sold for $14.99 – $1.49 per book. A book written by children, for children.
Successful Launch! Komodo Dragons Fly!
Dark Shade, the young Komodo Dragon who wants to fly – he wants his book to help save others like himself – endangered species. Dark Shade the Determined Dragon, on sale now!
Little Book
The year 2020 was a tough one, wasn’t it? A global pandemic had turned our world upside down, leaving us feeling isolated and anxious with little to chuckle about. But in the midst of it all, I found a glimmer of hope in the simple act of sharing stories. As I navigated the ups and […]
Launch Day May 19, 2023
The third Friday of every May is Endangered Species Day. Our book will be on sale in late April on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble – you can even pre-order today on our site – but we chose to do the formal launch on Endangered Species Day, May 19, 2023. We will be at […]
Why write a children’s book to raise awareness?
As a child growing up in the United States, the American flag and the bald eagle were the ultimate in citizen symbology. However, 50 years ago, we nearly lost the bald eagle to an extinction of our own making. This beautiful bird ranges all over the western part of North America and into Mexico. It’s […]
The book is almost here!
This website is fairly simple. We will have merchandise, some fun blog posts, and plan to add a page to detail the endangered species adoptions were planning…but really, it’s not complicated. This site is mostly to introduce the idea my children had in 2020 when they decided it was urgent enough and important enough to […]
I can fly, can you fly?
Dark Shade is a Komodo Dragon stuffie my son ‘adopted” from our local zoo at age 3. Dark Shade is not an idle participant in the Cross-family household. He, like many of our other fluff-filled family members, has a wonderful backstory and has participated in many adventures with our other stuffies. When our children learned […]
Our Process
Once we decided to create a children’s book. First, we created a story arc. I was impressed at the willingness and creativity of my (then) 6 and 9 year olds. The moral of the story was quick to come to them; I thought it generous and insightful. Then, character development. Followed by story board, which […]