The Perfect Holiday Gift!

This issue This issue has stories and poems from Australia, Tasmania and America. One story is written by a 10 year old. All the stories are fun to read. the games are fun to play. Give a child a Bumples subscription for only $15.00. They will remember you, every time they read a new issue.I still remember the yearly gift my aunt gave me.They will receive 10 new issues and can read 10 back issues. Bumples Subscription only $15.00. Give us the child's name, age and your relationship to them. We will send them a special letter from a Bumple animal. http://www.bumples.com

Bumples Needs a Kickstart!

Who is Miss Bumples?

Blue skinned, Miss Bumples flew in from Mars two decades ago. She can speak any language including dog, chicken, giraffe, caterpillar and people which is handy for a character in children’s literature.

She gathered animals from all over the world and built the town called Bumpleville.

 

Click Here

 

Why Bumple Games

Yes there are a lot of games on the web and no question they are good. But, we feel that we can continue to offer unusual games. Our members have asked us for more games. There will be the popular games but always with a twist.

• 4 issues a year with 6 new and exciting games, plus sub-games.
• Each game will have an easy version and a harder version.
• Go to 6 special animal homes in Bumpleville to play a game. (For instance, to play a sports game you will go to Griffy Giraffe’s home.) 
• Every child will become a Bumples, receive a letter from a Bumple animal and a page to color
• Subscribing to the games also allows you to read the magazines.

More Info Here

Hidden Objects: Everyone loves the hidden object games but how about an element of surprise when you find an object. You might be taken to a strange place and have to solve a mystery to get back to the hidden objects.

In the first game, match the animal parts, find their homes, listen to them and feed them.

Maze: Enter the maze at your peril. Touch a line and start over again or maybe you are taken to another place. Miss Bumples is full of surprises.

The first game is easy as you go to 4 different animals. Bugsy Bunny takes you down a hole. Ally Alligator takes you underwater and Casey Cardinal up in the air. Miss Bumples is not telling where she will take you. To get back you will have to catch food or monsters.

Building: We love to build or make things like airplanes ( we did that in one issue of the magazine). or help Chicky Dickey’s cook. All projects will start from scratch, find the materials and put them together.

The first house you will build is Henrietta Hippo’s home and beauty shop. After building the home, help her make her beauty supplies.

Sports: The Bumpleville animals love sports so we will include sports games. Either the child can join the Bumpleville animals in a sports game or play a game with children.

The first sport is soccer. You can join either Griffy Giraffe or Katie Caterpillar’s team.

 

Check It Out

Word Games: Word & hangman games have been played for years, but we take the games to a different level Win or lose you will laugh at some of the games Some correct words will take you to the next level to other word or math games.

In the first hangman game, if you guess the wrong letter, watch what happens to the boy.

Jigsaw puzzles: Who doesn’t love a good jigsaw puzzle. After finishing a puzzle, one of the pieces will take you to another game. They will be different from other games and full of surprises. Miss Bumples would love to take you to Mars and meet her family. She has a special language and you can learn how to read it.

In the first game you will make the puzzle and then Miss Bumples will take you to a special place for an unusual game. She’s not talking, so sign up and join the fun!

 

Click Here to Join the Fun!

In Her Own Words...

I caught up with Virginia Welch, three time author, for a fastastic interview that gives us a peek into this amazing woman's life.  Check it out...

Tell us about yourself (family, kids pets etc.)

I was born at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, the second of four daughters of Carl and Mary Hull. When I was about eight months old my father was transferred to Ft Eustis, Va.; my family lived nearby in a small brick rambler in Lee Hall. In 1962 my dad retired from the Army and the family relocated to Santa Clara, Ca. to be near my mother’s clan in San Francisco. My parents purchased a new home in the Killarney Farms suburban development of Santa Clara, where I was raised. My father found work as a mail carrier at the Santa Clara Post Office, my mother was hired by Santa Clara Unified School District as a secretary. I attended now-closed Emil R. Buchser High School. I majored in English at Santa Clara University, married, and then earned a Master of Communications at California State University, Chico, where I also taught a business writing course.

During the next twenty years I followed my FBI agent husband around the United States, writing freelance articles for various publications and taking on all types of contract editing assignments. I brought four children into the world during that time, two boys and two girls. While my husband was stationed in Birmingham, Ala. I contracted as a weekly freelance foods writer for the Birmingham News. Also in Birmingham I served a short stint (before my husband was transferred again) as associate editor in the crafts division at Oxmoor House, the book publishing arm of Sunset/Southern Living magazine.

In 1991 my husband’s job took the family to the Northern Virginia/DC Metro area, where I made the switch to technical editing and writing but continued to dream of producing something with a larger reach. In 2005 I was inspired to write The Lesson.

In 2006 I followed my husband’s government transfer one final time when we moved to Virginia Beach, Va. There I wrote Crazy Woman Creek. Sometime after this I wrote What to Do When the Blessings Stop – When God Sends Famine. It required several years to write, mostly because my time was occupied with child-raising.

Currently I work full-time as a writer/editor for a worldwide defense contractor. I still live in Virginia Beach with my husband and my youngest daughter. My two oldest children (girl and boy), a daughter-in-law, and two grandsons live locally. My youngest child (18), Gregory, died in a car accident on Valentine’s Day, 2013, the same day I was scheduled to release my first book, The Lesson, to the public.

Have you always been a writer?

I started writing for pay in 1984 while in graduate school, but I have always written. If not on paper, I’m writing something in my head. I can’t remember a time when I was not writing. I believe that some people are called to write. I’m one of them. Do you have a specific writing style?

Others describe it as direct and breezy. For my nonfiction in particular I strive to use as few words as possible to make a point. I’m a huge fan of William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. I learned much about cutting the fat from his book.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Though I’ve been writing professionally since 1984, it wasn’t until after I attended a Christian writer’s workshop at the Billy Graham conference center, The Cove, outside Asheville, North Carolina around 2003 that my self-concept crystalized. By the time I returned home I felt strongly compelled to quit waiting for someone else to call me a writer, to validate my gift. I am a writer because God designed me to be one, not because I’m published.

What was the very first thing you had published?

Ah, I remember this like it happened yesterday, though it was nearly 30 years ago. I wrote a two-page piece for a secretarial magazine. The message: It’s easy to get a full-time, permanent job if you start as a temp. I was paid $25, which my husband and I promptly spent on a steak dinner. I was in graduate school at the time and my husband was in college. We never ate out. I can still remember my husband bragging to the waitress about his wife, the published writer. His enthusiasm makes me smile.

Tell us about your books

The Lesson, published in March this year, is a romantic comedy based on my own true falling-in-love story. During my sophomore year in college I was followed home from a meeting by a stranger, Mr. Geeky Sailor, while I was in love with another man, Mr. Suave Attorney. A lot of funny things happened on the way to the altar.

Crazy Woman Creek, an inspirational historical romance set in Wyoming Territory, 1880, was released in April. This book was inspired by a cross-country car trip in 1999. I came upon a highway sign marking the bizarrely named creek that stretches over the northeast corner of Wyoming. When I learned that no one really knew the story behind the strange name, I decided to write one.

But there’s a little more to that. I grew up in the heyday of TV westerns. I love them. I spent many summers as a small child with a plastic gun and a leather holster, running around the neighborhood with my friends playing cowboys and Indians, so writing a western is not a stretch. And there was this picture in my head for a long time. I saw a woman waiting at the edge of her ranch, looking into the horizon, pining for her missing husband. Crazy Woman Creek also stemmed from this mind picture. So when I drove across the actual creek by that name in Wyoming in 1999, I was seriously intrigued. The seed was planted.

Finally, there’s the difficulty of finding good western fiction—not necessarily inspirational—that doesn’t slam the reader with smut. I like the sexual pull in a good romance. I don’t like the graphic sex. I wanted to write the kind of book I like to read.

I’m also in the process of writing another historical romance, which I hope to release at Christmas this year. It’s set in the California Gold Rush camps, 1851. And I’m revising a nonfiction book, The Hiss from Hell Only Women Hear, Is It Truth or Is It Tradition? I had hoped to have that out by Christmas too, but the work on the Gold Rush romance is taking up all my time.

Can you give us a quick synopsis of Crazy Woman Creek?

A young homesteader wife in 1880s Wyoming Territory becomes distraught when her husband goes missing and she realizes she is falling in love with the deputy assigned to find him.

Can you tell us a little bit about What to Do When the Blessings Stop – When God Sends Famine?

It’s my first nonfiction to be published and my shortest book, about 100 pages. I released it May 2013. It deals with severe spiritual chastening and how to respond based on the steps that Haggai (and Joel) outlined for the Jews, who were chastened by God with lack and frustration because of their indifference and spiritual sloth.

What else do you like to do?

Bake, cook, sew, quilt, and machine embroider. And read. I read constantly.

How/what do you do to feel empowered?

Empowerment begins in the mind. It’s not so much about what you have in the way of the world’s goods but how you think about yourself. This is what I think about myself that empowers me:

1. 1) No one can fulfill the calling on my life but me; 2) I’m equipped to do the thing I’m called to do; 3) The fact that I’m female is no accident. Female by design. I glory in that knowledge. I love it.
2. I read the Bible daily. Nothing sets us free (as women or otherwise) like standing on the promises of God.

If you could have coffee with any actor or famous person who would it be? What would you love to ask him/her?

I’d have coffee with a whole bunch of famous people, not just one! I’d ask to sit and chat with the entire crew of the Longmire (A&E) series. The modern-day law enforcement program is set in the fictional little town of Durant, Wyoming, which is based on the real little town of Buffalo, Wyoming, the town where my story, Crazy Woman Creek is set. I love the Longmire series, the Great West: good guys, bad guys, horses, guns, cowboy hats, and all in a contemporary setting. One night when I first discovered the series, I commented to my husband, who was watching with me, that the backdrop for the program looked exactly like Buffalo, which we had visited together in 2010 when I was researching Crazy Woman Creek. Turns out the author of the Longmire series, Craig Johnson, did indeed base fictional Durant on Buffalo. Johnson lives just outside of Buffalo.

If I were lucky enough to ask questions of the crew, I’d ask them if, in the process of playing their on-screen personas, do they begin to feel like the characters they portray? I say this because, when I write a story, I get so totally into the characters—they’re in my head talking and doing things every waking minute—that I forget they are not real. True story: Just before I got on the plane to fly to Buffalo to research Crazy Woman Creek, my younger daughter felt compelled to remind me that I shouldn’t go looking for Luke and Lenora’s grave markers in town. “They’re not real, you know, Mom.”

I must have been talking about Luke and Lenora a bit too much, you think? 

What would you love to do, but haven't yet?

Live 6-12 months in a Spanish-speaking country, on my own, working and traveling so that I could once and for all get fluent. I’ve taken 9 years of college-level Spanish and still speak the language with slowly and stupidly.

Favorite color? Book? Food?

Red, which is one of the reasons I love the cover of The Lesson so much. I have a zillion favorite books, but a historical romance, Beloved Enemy, by Mary Schaller comes to mind. I’ve read it three times. Food? Oh my, let’s not start. There’s only so much space on this Internet page.

What do you indulge in?

Sweets, way too often. Hmm. I also have a kitchen some women would kill for. Like I said, I like to cook and bake. Never met a high-end appliance I didn’t like.

Anything else you would like to add?

My most sincere desire is that my fiction entertains and encourages someone. And I hope that my nonfiction books inform and bring hope.

Check out Viginia's web site at; http://www.ginnywelch.com/

Another Angel of Love ~ Book Two in the Angelic Letter Series

Jenny and Henry continue on their separate journeys through life.  Henry is soon graduating from high school and still carries his love for Jenny.  But will there be another to take her place?  Henry is reluctant to date, but with not a peep from Jenny in years he knows he must move on.

Jenny on the other hand has found a new boyfriend, but can he really take the place of Henry in her heart and soul?  James is a lot like Henry, but not where it really counts - the way he treats Jenny.  Sure James will have money and a bright future, but to what cost?

Find out in the continuing saga of book two in the Angelic Letter Series; Another Angel of Love. 

Based on true events of the author, Henry Ripplinger, this book is a wonderful and inspirational read.  Ripplinger not only weaves a wonderful love story packed full of page-turning drama, but he reminds the reader what life is really all about - our relationship with God.

Grab the second installment of this fabulous series, Another Angel to Love, on Amazon or visit the authors web site at; http://www.henryripplinger.com/another_angel.html

Planet Dog Foundation Donates Over One Million Dollars in Support of Canine Service

Crazy Woman Creek ~ A Review

After a heated argument with his wife, James Rose storms out of the house and doesn't return.  Three days later his horse turns up, but still no James.  Lenora, his devoted wife, is now left with a massive ranch and little money to help her get through the tough times ahead.  But is he dead?  Lenora refuses to believe the worse without her beloveds body to bury and she holds out for the hope that he will return. 

Lenora seeks help from the handsome, young deputy, Luke Davies, to find her husband, even though the Sheriff believes there was foul play and Mr. Rose is gone forever.  However, the time spent between Lenora and Luke are set with perils and rumors of their own.  Are they falling for each other, despite the taboos and town talk?

Set in the 1880's on the Wyoming praires, Crazy Women Creek by Virginia Hull Welch is a historical look back to a time when women weren't repected and the times were rough.  The book is a wonderful read, with just enough mystery and romance to keep you turning the pages. 

This is a great summer read so grab your copy today at Amazon. 

5 Star!!

The Lesson - A Review

Gina had her life planned out.  She and her fiance, Michael, were on the college path to being attorneys and one day they would have the perfect life in a law practice together.  However, Gina's expectations are cut short as her perfect, handsome fiance suddenly breaks it off with her.

Gina is devastated and to add to the trauma her parent's are no longer speaking to her.  Gina turns to the help of a Bible study group where she briefly meets Kevin - an ordinary Navy guy without all the looks and charm that Michael possessed.  But when Kevin follows her home and she let's him into her apartment, little does she know then that this quirky guy is going to change her life.

The Lesson by Virginia Hull Welch is based on true events.  It's heartwarming, funny and definitely a page-turner.  Grab your copy today - it's the perfect beach book.

I LOVED IT 5 Stars!

The Lesson is available at; Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other book retailers.

Chocolate Chocolate Moons - A Review

Molly Marbles struggles with her weight, but when she wins a scholarship to Armstrong University on the Moon she accepts and instantly goes from 287 earth pounds to 47.6 moon pounds. 

However, when Molly gets dumped by her boyfriend, Drew Barron, she thinks her life is over.  That is until she's him trim and fit and working for a company that makes calorie reduced food supplements.  Not only that, Molly's favorite food, Chocolate Moons have been poisoned.  Molly jumps on the mysterious band wagon with the help of friends and her new husband. 

Where will it all end?  Find our in Chocolate Chocolate Moons by Jackie Kingon.

This book is a fun romp between the planets of our solar system that are all inhabitable.  Kingon uses references to famous people (with slight changes) to add a delicous flavor to her novel.  The book is quirky, yet you can't wait to find out what happens next.

Check out Chocolate Chocolate Moons on Amazon.

Nancy's Circle of Friends

Is It Bedtime Already?     Brand New Day

 

 

 

Nancy Levy has taken children's songs to a whole new level.  The two CD collection features; Is It Bedtime Already? and Brand New Day.  Each CD has 13 of its own specific music aimed to get children to relax or to get up and get movin'.

Nancy has taken the traditionally annoying kids' music and turned it into something parents will even want to participate in.

Is It Bedtime Already? features songs that will inspire a magical dream night and put your child at ease.  Brand New Day is a bouncin' great time dance and wiggling CD that is sure to get your little ones moving and having fun.

In addition to this fabulous two CD collection you also get Nancy's Circle of Friends book.  The illustrations by Cindy Casino is a wonderful mix of bold colors, yet are whimsical and filled with fun - I love her curly trees and smiling moon and sun! 

This collection is a must-have and I guarantee even you parents will fall in love with Nancy's voice and the magic found within the pages of the book.

For more information on Nancy's Circle of Friends check out the BFM Digital website or Amazon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Nancy Levy

Music specialist and educator Nancy Levy is in her 35-year career and has taught Parent and Child music classes, special needs preschool classes, and mainstream music classes, drawing inspiration from her experience in these fields to write music made for children. Nancy’s sweet voice and playful storytelling lyrics are certain to catch the interest of children and parents alike as she brings a new spark to story time with this new sing-a-long album and book release.



Planet Dog To the Rescue

THE PLANET DOG FOUNDATION (PDF) DONATES FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION (SDF) SEARCH TEAMS

IN MOORE, OKLAHOMA
 

 

 

The Planet Dog Foundation (PDF), Planet Dog's non-profit grant making organization, is proud to lend a paw to help the people of Moore, Oklahoma after the devastating tornado. PDF donated $1,000 to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) to help support their search dog teams that have been deployed to assist in the recovery efforts.
 

“The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) search dog teams are playing a major role in locating survivors and we are thankful we are able to donate funds to help support their lifesaving efforts,” says Kristen Smith, the Executive Director of the Planet Dog Foundation. “We couldn’t do it without the support from our customers whose purchases help raise money for PDF and enable us to provide grants to support the amazing ways service dogs are helping people in need,” adds Smith.
 

In 2012, PDF awarded a $10,000 grant to SDF to sponsor a new search dog team that is currently in training and based in Albany, New York. “The search dog team we fund will not be deployed to Oklahoma so we decided to award SDF an emergency grant to support the search dog teams that are assisting the recovery efforts,” says Smith.

The Planet Dog Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Planet Dog, the globally recognized designer and developer of innovative, high-quality and award-winning dog products that enhance the lifestyle people share with their canine companions. Planet Dog is proud to donate 2% of all purchases of Planet Dog products to PDF to provide cash and in-kind product donations to exemplary canine service programs nationwide.
 

PDF recently announced over $71,000 in new grants to 16 canine service organizations across the country including other search and rescue organizations. To learn more about PDF and all of the programs the non-profit supports, visit; www.planetdogfoundation.org.

 

Pewter Angels ~ A Review

Fifteen year-old Henry is a simple kid, but when he catches a glimpse of Jenny walking towards the country store his life changes forever.

Jenny just moved in down the road from Henry and he is instantly struck by her beauty and poise.  Henry jumps on his bike and follows Jenny to Mr. Engelmann's store where he blunders and trips.  Mr. Engelmann's kind nature and gentle personality helps the two and soon Henry finds himself, not only in love, but employed - Mr. Englemann is aging with a sick wife, so Henry feels he should help out after school and on weekends.  Little does he or Mr. Engelmann know this is about to have a very profound effect on the whole town.

Do you believe in guardian angels?  Pewter Angels is a must-read book about young love and self-discovery.  The author, Henry Ripllinger, has woven his own real-life experiences into a thought-provoking and magical tale.

This is one of the best books I've read this year - and I read a lot!  I can't wait until book two comes out.  Will Jenny and Henry find their way back to each other after Jenny's parents rip them apart?

Bravo to Ripplinger for weaving a story that not only speaks to the heart, but speaks to our very souls.

Check out Henry Ripplingers web site for more information on Pewter Angels and his other works of art and literature.

Draw Plus Science

Enhance Science Learning through Art Activities

Does your child love to draw?  Does your child love science?  Draw Plus Science, by Freddie Levin,  is an unique book that lets your child learn about basic science and breaks down the drawing process to the simple basics.

This book is based on concepts which include;

• Classification
• Measuring and Recording
• Life Cycles
• Seasons
• Variety in Nature
• Adaptations
• Inherited Traits
• Characteristics of Organisms

This would be a great educational tool, as well as a fun way to learn to draw and to discover.

Draw Plus Science is available on Amazon

8 Sure Fire Ways to Fail

America continues to be the world’s largest economy and boasts the lion share of global billionaires. In fact, there were reportedly 442 billionaires in America in 2012—the nationality majority of the record 1,426 people who have earned this laudable distinction around the world.  When considering the staggering success only an elite few attain in business, it begs the question “what do these billionaires know that the rest of us don’t?” And, as importantly, “how can we avoid failure as we aspire to achieve career success of any measure?”

“To achieve a notable amount of success at anything and certainly a notable measure of wealth, you must become a specialist at what you do. And, you must ‘do what you do‘ better than anyone else,” notes international business mogul Paul LeJoy.   “You must become indispensible—the go-to person because your results are superior.  In working towards this objective it is important employ a specific combination of essential elements that, combined, will make you a force to be reckoned with.”

With this in mind, LeJoy offers these 8 pitfalls to avoid to assist the proverbial 99% in their quest for success:

1) Short-sightedness: Every successful person at some point in their lives had a vision for what “could be,” and set out in relentless pursuit of their dream. From Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs and countless success stories in between, visionaries are filled with a passion and purpose that drives them every day.  Those who are short-sighted and unmindful of future consequences of their efforts, both the good and the bad, are more likely to fail than those who are thoughtful and perceptive in their approach. 

2) Inaction: Have a vision or a goal? The first step is to write down along with objectives and action steps related thereto. Now you’ve taken initiative, which is the critical first step to achieving success. Post it your vision statement in your bedroom, bathroom, office. Share it with others. And, be sure to follow your action steps. By taking these minor steps, you make yourself accountable and become the master of your destiny. Take quantum action and you will surely have a breakthrough. Or, find contentment with the status-quo and, well, remain there.

3) Contentment: You may have the vision. You may write it down. You may have shared it with others, but without passion, that vision will likely wither. Passion for what you seek to accomplish should be almost palpable to the extent that others can see and feel your drive.  The key is to match your vision with something you can be truly passionate about. Something that will keep you engaged every moment of every work day to bring you one step closer to the measure of success that you personally desire. Or, approach your job with a lackluster attitude and suffer the inevitable ominous consequences. 

4) Instability: Many have vision and passion, but lack the self-discipline required to stay the course. The pain of living a life of discipline is less than the pain of regret for what “could have been if.” Those who are self-disciplined motivate themself to continue with their action steps and persevere amid adversity, asserting sheer willpower over their more base desires and instincts to give up or turn attentions to something more enjoyable in the moment.  This requisite self-control will channel emotions, behavior, and desires toward obtaining the reward of success and, as importantly, to avoid the punishment of failure.

5) Doubt: You have the vision and you take action to write it down. You may even embellish that vision with passion and be quite disciplined in your approach. However, without the will to endure you may not get too far. Life and work can be hard and even cruel. Remember, the race is not for the swift but rather those who persevere. Rather than allowing doubt to seep in and poison the process, you owe it to yourself to remain confident in your vision and your methodologies to get you there. Sure, you can adapt as needed along the way, but always know that success will ultimately be yours.

6) Going it Alone: No one is an island and there's strength in numbers. A mastermind group, coach or mentor is an excellent way to get motivated. Meeting regularly can be a great boost to your morale and provide new perspectives on your approach. The Internet makes it extraordinarily easy to find a coach or mentor and join a mastermind group that can help propel your vision to new heights and facilitate invaluable networking opportunities.

7) Dishonesty: While it sounds cliché, honesty is indeed the best policy in business. Integrity is of paramount importance for those seeking to find and sustain long-term success. True success comes when you are a person of your word, when you have a pure conscience, and when you have not cheated others on your way to the top.  Dishonesty has a tendency to sneak back up on you causing far more problems than the risk was work taking in the first place.

8) Arrogance: Humility, like patience, hard work and integrity, is a virtue. So, when you finally reach your destination of success, when your vision becomes a reality, do not forget your humble beginnings and all those who helped you to get to the top of the hill.  Extend an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness. There is no such a thing as a self-made millionaire. People get there because others helped them get there.

“If you have a vision, passion, take action, are determined and disciplined; if you get a coach or mentor; get in the right environment; and are honest and humble you be well positioned to achieve your dream...whatever that may be,” Paul says.
About the ExpertPacific Realty Partners Founder and Principal Paul LeJoy is a revered real estate investor and top business building expert who has earned the reputation as a motivational leader in helping others duplicate his success and create wealth.   LeJoy believes it is impossible to be poor in America, and he speaks on topics such as being successful with real estate and how anyone with the passion and desire can create wealth in America, regardless of their situation.  Among other distinctions, LeJoy is currently one of the top 20 REO Brokers in the San Francisco Bay Area and considered a top expert in the real estate industry at large.  LeJoy’s success in real estate is empowered by his business skills and no-excuses approach to success.   LeJoy may be reached online at www.LejoySolutions.com.

The Sun Did Come Out for Sunny the Shaggy Star of Annie

 

It's a barking great show!  Annie came up from the comic pages to a Broadway hit with it's first big time production in 1977.  Many girls have played the spunky role of Annie, including Sarah Jessica Parker.  She was just 14 when she adorned the stage in her fiery red locks and big voice in 1979.  However, her playful, lovable mutt Sandy should also share in the limelight.

Animal lover and trainer, William (Bill) Berloni, also got his start at just 19 years-old on the first Annie theatrical production.  Berloni, knows the ins and outs of this tricky trade.and lets us in on some of the details;

“Up until Annie, there had never been an animal that played a character in a play,” said Berloni. “No one thought that you could train an animal to do the same thing eight times a week. You could do a film with an animal, but not a theatrical event. But we were young and naive and we didn’t know that, so what I devised was a way that they [the dogs] would look forward to coming to the theatre.”

Currently, director James Lapine has once again resurrected Annie to the big stage with a newly turned 12-year-old, Lilla Crawford, as the feisty Annie and a newcomer to the stage, Sunny, playing the role of her shaggy tagalong pet pal, Sandy.  

When the perfect pup was required for this onstage musical, Berloni once again turned to the pound to find his next big shaggy star.  It was a good thing for Sunny who was only two days away from euthanization when Berloni snatched her up and began her training for Sandy.

However, taking a dog from shelter to star isn't always an easy task.  Berloni shares his insights and secret of being one of the best in his field;

“I think what differentiates me from most of my contemporaries, other animal trainers, is that I don’t demand or force the animals to do anything. I don’t think any of us have the right to dominate anything else. When you think about the lead, dominance, all of that is about man controlling nature. And I never wanted to do that with animals. I use positive reinforcement to create a situation where the animal wants to do something,” said Berloni. “That can come in the shape of a treat, or a ball, or it can be a hug and a kiss -whatever motivates an animal the most is what we’ll use.”

However, before Sunny's big debut, Sandy was played by Mikey.  A source close to Berloni tells us; "Mikey was on tour for 4 years.  He was neglected for 2 years when we found him in a pen in a backyard."  

Annie is a huge hit, so it's only fitting that Pedigree would want to be involved.  Annie partnered with Pedigree Food for Dogs to raise $1 million through the “See the Show, Help a Dog” initiative. Through Dec. 31, 2013, for each ticket purchased for a showing of Annie, Pedigree with donate $2 to the Pedigree Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides grants to shelters and rescue groups in an effort to find furrever homes for some of the four million dogs who find themselves in the shelter system each year.  A great show goes to a great cause!

Sunny isn't the only rescued dog that has found its way into the Hollywood elite.  Berloni's assistant gives us more information; "Toto from the Wizard of Oz, the chihuahua's from Legally Blonde and the bulldog from Legally Blonde" have all been rescued pooches gaining notability for their furry talents.

So what happens to these lovable pouches when they retire?

They go to a big farm in Connecticut.  Truly!  Berloni and his wife, Dorothy, care for dogs, cats, horses, llamas, a donkey and a pony.  "He's not just a trainer, he takes them all in as his family."

Fortunately, many many animals have found their way into the Berloni family over the years, in fact, "the number is too big to count."  

Even after the curtain closes on Annie, Bill Berloni and his handlers will continue to rescue tossed-away animals of all species and sizes in shelters, humane societies and rescues for Broadway and off-Broadway, regional tours, theatres, special events the New York City Ballet, motion pictures, television and commercials.

For more information, check out Bill's website at; http://www.theatricalanimals.com/