Ruby and the Animal Shelter Guardian

Ages 6–8

When a kind-hearted seven-year-old discovers that the shelter's oldest, three-legged dog keeps getting passed by, she uses her heart and her blue pencil to make sure the whole town finally sees him.

A gentle story about noticing who gets overlooked and using kindness and persistence to help them be seen.

Every Saturday, Ruby pulled on her mustard-yellow overall dress, grabbed her sticker-covered clipboard, and skipped down Maple Street. She loved the barking, the wagging, the warm biscuit smell. But today, past the last kennel, she stopped. An old dog sat very still. What was his story?

His nameplate read Barnaby. Missing a back leg, muzzle gone gray, he sat quiet while other dogs leaped and barked. Visitors walked right past. "Why doesn't anyone stop for you?" Ruby whispered. Barnaby thumped his tail once, slow and hopeful. Someone will see you, Barnaby, she thought. Someone will.

Ruby found an old poster crumpled near the trash bin. It was Barnaby's, torn at one corner, forgotten. Nobody had even glanced at it. She smoothed it flat against her clipboard. Her freckled face scrunched up tight. That was not fair. Not one bit.

Make it with your child's name and photo · Browse the Story Library