Norman: The Great Escape

Our hero is Norman, a pedigree Beagle known in the sporting group as a hunter with a marvelous nose for things. His overwhelming sense of smell and curiosity compelled him to climb out of his puppy cage one day where he followed his puppy nose and began a life on his own for a whole year. 

Then he was caught. However, from Norman’s perspective his capture felt like he was a fugitive from the law.  On the other hand, from a human point of view, it was a humanitarian rescue. 

The underlying story in Norman: The Great Escape is learning about trust. Surprisingly for some, trustis nota two-way street. You can trust someone who doesn't trust you. It happens all the time. Yet, in the best relationships, trustis a two-way streetbecause good relationships are built on trust, not love, but trust.

Norman: The Great Escape is a true story that recently captured the hearts and attention of residents of the town of Sonoma, CA. More than idle gossip there came dribs and drabs of reports circulating through town of a beagle crossing Highway 12. He even made it on the front page of the Index Tribune. 

His story endears him to many and exposes those who have the ‘savior complex,’ that one might consider ‘save the poor, cute little dog’. Most importantly, Norman wanted none of that and as soon as some well-intentioned arms reached down to scoop him up, he bolted like a greased pig.

‘Twixt’ and 'between', he was smart and wily enough to know that people provided food. His story is about near captures, being hungry, learning to cross the Highway, and then being cold when the rains came. Finally one woman, whom he grew to trust, brought in the rescue dog experts who saved him from impending cold and hunger. He was finally adopted into a winery family who let him roam. This is all that he wanted to do.

Norman: The Great Escape will be a 10 chapter, 7,000 word picture book for young readers.