Dog lovers are so lucky……there are so many great books about pet dogs and their owners.
But for bird lovers, we often have to hunt to find new stories about our fav pets and their human companions.
I stumbled across “Life With Ben: A Story of Friendship and Feathers” completely by accident. Or sort of by accident – I was browsing through Amazon on the hunt for a completely different book about pet birds and “Life With Ben” was a title that popped up on the little Amazon wizard as another book I might enjoy.
That Amazon really knows what I like!
A young woman named Jessica Hagedorn self-published the book about her pet parrot, Benvolio (aka “Ben”). The subtitle was what got me – “friendship and feathers”. I mean, pretty much anything with the word “feathers” in it (that isn’t culinary in nature) and has a pic of a bird on the cover will get me – but there was something especially poignant in the little thumbnail of Ben on the cover, and I kept returning to it again and again.
So (of course) I bought the book.
First things first – it is incredibly well-written. In an era where anyone with a laptop fancies themselves an author, Jessica actually is. She writes concisely yet in a way that keeps you reading and reading and reading. She also includes lots of thumbnails of Ben. It is hard to stop reading with a cute parrot staring at you.
Perhaps most interesting of all, Jessica and Ben’s story is in many ways so like my own with Pearl.
Pearl chose me – Ben chose Jessica. Pearl arrived during a very painful period in time and healed my heart. Ben did the same for Jessica. Pearl is FULL of personality – a parrot who needs as much TLC and attention as any tiny human might. Ben is a slightly larger version of the same.
As Jessica states, “They [parrots] will make your life amazing if you take the time to understand their needs.”
YES. Pearl and I couldn’t have said it better ourselves! 🙂
Jessica is donating 10 percent of all profits from sales of “Life With Ben” to CARE, the Center for Avian Rehab and Education. So shop early. Shop often. You can visit Jessica and Ben at www.lifewithben.com
Thank you for the wonderful review of my story! The best thing about being a writer is hearing that I have touched the life of a reader. I wanted to write my story for other animal lovers and to also give readers a glimpse into sharing a home and life with an opinionated, stubborn, goofy parrot. Thank you for your support.
You are so welcome, Jessica! I too am super-psyched every time I can connect with other animal (and especially parrot) lovers to share the wonders of life with an ever-unpredictable set of wings! I loved your story with Ben….recommended it to the folks who get my monthly ezine too! 🙂 Hugs to you and Ben!