A Blue Jay's Choice

By Judy Reynolds

If you have ever found and rescued a baby animal, then this story will touch your heart. It is about the friendship, trust, and loyalty a boy experiences with his two "found" pets, and it lets you witness both the joy he shares with these animals, and the difficult decisions he must face.

This story is based on a real blue jay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452064567

Judy Reynolds

     Judy (Wintle) Reynolds received her B,S. and M.A. degrees in Elementary Education from LSU and is retired after 31 years of teaching.  She was an avid reader to her classes and believed that strong values need to be both modeled and taught along with the academic subjects.      Residing in Richardson, Texas with her husband, Jim Reynolds, she is the mother of two daughters, and boasts five grandchildren.  Her very special pet-friend is a wheaten Cairn terrier, named MacKelvie.      She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, participating in many church activities, writing, reading good books, volunteering and traveling.      Judy truly believes that many life lessons can be learned from the relationships we have with our family pets.

Book preview

A Blue Jay’s Choice

SKU-000379393_TEXT-3.pdf

Written by Judy Reynolds

Illustrated by Caroline Brown

and

Jessica Brown

missing image file

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2010 Judy Reynolds. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/23/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4520-6456-7 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-6455-0 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010911352

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them

**A Word to the Reader

The story of Ted took place years ago, before there was a Federal law that prohibits people from keeping and raising blue jays and other protected birds. Now, if you should rescue one of these protected birds, Federal laws require that it is given to a wildlife museum or other group involved in the protection of wildlife. They will be responsible for eventually releasing the bird back into the wild.

A suggested outstanding rescue center is:

Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation

1430 East Cleveland Street

Hutchins, TX 75141-4004

www.rogerswildlife.org

972-225-4000

To grandchildren

Morgan, Caroline, Natalie, Becca and James

and, to the real Ted

Many thanks to the following sources who gave me assistance in preparing this book. You each helped to give the story of Ted special meaning.

Bob and Laura Cowan, Jim Reynolds,

Conor Murphy, Jackie Wintle,

Cynthia Perkins’ fourth grade class,

RISD Environmental Center,

and

Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Contents

1. The Discovery

2. Mrs. Ward

3. Family Caregivers

4. A New Home

5. Lake Beaver

6. The Car Trip

7. Saying Goodbye

8. The Fishermen

9. Missing Ted

10. A Surprise

11. Remembering….nine years later…..

Glossary

Chapter 1

The Discovery

Friendships come in all shapes and sizes, and this story is no exception. The Banks family had recently moved in the summer to Cedarville, a small and friendly east Texas town, and sixth grader Sam Banks was glad to find some boys around his age living in the new neighborhood. One afternoon shortly after they had moved in, Sam noticed his new friend, Tom Conan across the street tossing a Frisbee to a lively dog in his yard. Within minutes, Sam had joined in the fun. When it began to get hot outside, Tom invited Sam into his house for a drink of water to cool down. As they passed through the den, heading for the kitchen, Sam shouted, Whoa, Tom! How did you get the blue jay in that cage?"

Sam had been startled when he saw the huge birdcage hanging in the window of the Conans’ den with a blue jay sitting inside. "Blue jays live outdoors. I’ve never seen a blue jay in a birdcage inside someone’s house!"

Tom laughed at Sam’s surprised comment. "You’re right, Sam. Blue jays usually don’t live in cages." Tom