👋Hi! I’m Leia Barrett, a children’s book author and lover of quirky rescue dogs. My family always had rescue dogs growing up. From greyhounds to mystery mixes, every dog had their share of good and bad traits, but overall, they made our family better. I know that first-time dog owners, especially those with young children, can be anxious about bringing rescue dogs into the family. It requires a leap of faith, especially with dogs whose stories didn't start out great.

My first book, The Odd Dog, introduces families to Odd, a quirky stray who struggles to adjust to living in a home. The next book in this collection, The Odd Dog's Guide to Making Friends, introduces a new dog to Odd's family. Told through Odd's eyes, this book introduces children and families to the "3/3/3 Rule", a well-documented set of behaviors rescues go through when living with a new family. 

This set of guidelines was incredibly helpful for our family, and inspired me to create a children’s book that I hope will help other families as well!

But in order to create this important and fun book, I need your help. Through this Booktopia Campaign you can help me, rescue dogs and families around the country and get some PAWsome rewards in the process.

Here's the reality: books are not cheap to produce and as an independent author I am doing all the work of having the book produced and fronting all the costs. That can be very challenging and stressful (thank goodness I have my Layla, the original Odd Dog, by my side).

I would love to have you by my side as well. Together we can make an impact on rescue dogs and families by bringing education, fun and love into homes around the country.

In this silly and heartwarming sequel to “The Odd Dog”, our beloved main character welcomes a new furry friend into their home. Odd, having recently been adopted, struggles to adjust to the new dog’s strange behavior. Will patience and love win out, or is there only enough room for one dog in Odd’s family?

"The Odd Dog's Guide to Making Friends" is not just a book; it's a guide for families on what to expect when adopting a dog. It's perfect for parents to read with their children, sparking conversations about empathy, responsibility, and the joys of giving a rescue dog a forever home.

I hope this book will help families on the fence make the leap and welcome new furry friends into their home. As always, I will be using this book to advocate and fundraise, even offering reward tiers where you can donate copies of this book to your local rescue or shelter, allowing them to either fundraise or distribute the books for educational outreach.

I'm even partnering with a number of shelters and rescues, so if you'd not sure who should get your donated books, we have several you can choose!

It's my hope that the majority of rewards will go to shelters and rescues to help them better their work. This means that most rewards include a donate option.

If you want to include your amazing rescue dog IN the book, we have some options for that as well. These include getting their name included in the end pages and getting them drawn as an extra character in the book!

We have a fantastic team ready to bring this book to life.

I am joined by Shannon McKeon, an amazing illustrator from the UK.

The book will be brought to life by our Art Director and Publishing Consultant, Melinda Martin.

This campaign would not have been possible without the guidance and wisdom of our crowdfunding coach, Lisa Ferland.

The team is assembled and have just started bringing the story to life, but we need your help! 

We are publishing The Odd Dog's Guide to Making Friends through my company, MEA Publications, which means we have full artistic control but need the funds from this campaign for the production and publication of the book. 

Let's face it-- we're better together. When the opportunity to take part in a wholly new initiative where authors come together to help each other, I jumped at the chance.

From September 5-26, 50+ authors will be part of Booktopia, working together to get our projects funded. To thank you for participating, a number of children's book authors are teaming up to provide a limited edition card deck starring the characters from our stories. Check out the participating authors below. If you pledge to four or more campaigns, you get the entire deck!

My favorite part of Backerkit is the ability to collaborate with other crowdfunders. For this campaign, I'm partnering with fellow author Nocola Williams, a long-time teacher and beekeeper.

Nocola and I have created an awesome reward! I will be designing a card with everyone's favorite odd dog, and Nocola will be creating a sticker of Bugzee. Apart, they don't make sense, but when you put them together...

BAM! Super synergy!

To get this limited edition (read: only offered during the campaign) reward, simply pledge to my campaign at any level, then head over to Nocola's campaign and pledge.

And that's it! 

Important: The Backerkit platform does not collect the shipping cost for your reward at the time of your pledge during the campaign. 

Instead, your shipping will be calculated after the campaign when you fill out a survey and provide your address so that the cost of shipping can be accurately calculated based on your location. If you have concerns about the shipping cost at that time, I’ll be happy to work with you and find a solution. 

We estimate US packages of a single book will cost around $6 to ship. International packages will cost between $15-$20 USD. 

After the campaign ends, you will be able to let us know of your delivery address, and also to add extra books and options to your pledge, depending on availability. 

All digital rewards will be available on your BackerKit account.

We're working to get the original story, The Odd Dog, to the printer, so it's going to be a while before you see this story. 

Once the book is created with your help, we will be partnering with local shelters and pet industry businesses to advocate and fundraise for our furry friends. We are so excited to share this special project with you, and hope you will join the pack by pledging today! 

We have raised enough money to get the book edited and pay our illustrator, but we need your help to get the book published. The more we raise, the larger our print run can be and the fancier the book will be.