Corgi Tails

By Eileen Marquez and Vee Sepersky

Tails of Two Corgis is a fantastical tale of two corgis who find themselves in a bunch of different adventures! These best pals discover things about themselves and the world around them as their goofy antics help them meet some super fun characters. Though they are opposite in personality, they are two side

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leaning Bean Publishing
• Release date: May 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988020516

Eileen Marquez

Eileen is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist whose therapy passions include parent education and training, early language development, and feeding and swallowing disorders. Born and raised learning to sail in Texas, she picked up snowboarding while living in Washington State, spent a short stint picking hops while working at a brewery in Michigan, and discovered her love of cheese curds after becoming a Sconnie. She has worked with patients from all walks of life aged 6 months to 101 years. Experiencing first-hand the joy and satisfaction when a client finally conquers a formidable barrier to communication or feeding is her reason not only for pursuing the career initially but also why she decided to share some of her experiences with readers. When she is not writing a book or working with pediatric clients on speech, language, or swallowing disorders, she spends her time hiking in the mountains, refining pastry recipes in the kitchen, or exploring foreign lands with her family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and real-life Sammy.

Book preview

Corgi Tails

Eileen Marquez, M.S. CCC-SLP

Leaning Bean Publishing

For Grace.

Copyright © [2023] by [Eileen Marquez]

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

Introduction

Prologue

1. Hangry Hector

2. The Case of the Missing Peanut Butter

3. Sammy at the Hospital

4. The Different Dog

5. Them Queen’s Dogs

6. Sammy Gets Skunked

7. Captain Remy and the Flying Machine

8. Obedience School

9. Sammy meets Granny Gertie

10. Sammy learns Scuroodi

Epilogue

Parent Manual

Tip One: Do as the Kids Do

Tip Two: Describing with Adjectives

Tip Three: Making Food Fun and Approachable

Tip Four: Let your Imagination Run Wild

Tip Five: Feeling Words

Tip Six: Real-life Adventures

Tip Seven: Learning New Words

Acknowledgments

Endnotes

About the Author

Introduction

Corgi Tails is intended to be a side-by-side companion reader for parents and children aged 5-9 years or as an independent reader for 7-11-year-olds.

Parents are welcome to review the short parent manual, included at the end of the book. This manual is meant to share tips and tricks for teaching children age-appropriate language development skills, using the short stories as an outline. Children of all ages will benefit when parents utilize this guide to help young readers learn the hidden lessons within each story. This parent guide is intended to be used by parents whether the child reads side-by-side or independently.

It is important to remember that this book and accompanying parent guide are not a replacement for speech therapy intervention. It is meant to give you, the parent, an extra tool to help your child develop language skills at home. There are many ways you can help your child grasp language skills through simple at-home techniques. A few of these techniques are highlighted in the parent guide.

You will find that the parent manual can be used with any book, so if your child has a favorite book at home, simply move the techniques over. Some techniques are useful outside the world of reading, and work in everyday life to help your child gain language development skills. I do hope you enjoy getting lost in the adventures of Remy and Sammy, but I am happy to help you help your child outside that world, too.

I welcome you to read this book ahead of your child to learn how it works, then I welcome you to apply the tips to your child’s reading and life adventures. Just like Sammy and Remy, children are naturally curious, and look to you to help shape their world. These stories and parent guide were created to help you do just that.

Prologue

In a small town in Michigan, there lived two dogs with stubby legs, looong bodies, and big pointy ears. The human friends called them corgis, so that’s what they called themselves. These two canines were named Remington Wallace the Third and his best friend in all the backyards, Samuel Cornelius the Sixth. Together these two trusty dogs roamed around, ridding the world of injustice, and getting into all kinds of trouble. The family of six humans they lived with thought of Remy and Sammy as loyal household pets in a big, busy household. The humans were unaware of the undercover policing they engaged in, the havoc they wreaked, and the worldwide journeys they went on. Remy had wiry red and white fur, and serious, kind brown eyes that always knew what someone was thinking. On both his front paws were white patches that looked as if he were permanently wearing socks. He had a wizened quiet temperament that nothing seemed to upset. Remy was extremely courageous and always wore sunglasses balanced on his long, black snout. His companion, Sammy, was a black and white puppy with fluffy fur, and a nubbin that rarely stopped wagging. He was extremely energetic and always curious about everything. Sammy often blurted out things that got him into lots of trouble. His favorite question was But, why?, and his favorite stuffed animal was a purple dinosaur that squeaked when he pinched its tummy with his powerful jaws. He had learned many things since he was born and was always looking for the next thing to play with, smell, or learn. Sammy sometimes needed Remy’s help getting out of trouble and Remy was always ready to accompany Sammy on the next adventure.

Chapter 1

Hangry Hector

Sammy had a purple stuffed dinosaur with a long neck and red spots along his back. He was the perfect size to be carried around in puppy jaws. This beloved sidekick was a comfort during thunderstorms and always listened to Sammy’s stories. Sammy spent every moment (whether awake playing tug-of-war or asleep dreaming of peanut butter) with his stuffed squeaky toy, Hector the Dinosaur.

One afternoon, after awakening from an extra long nap and finishing a cheesy snack in the kitchen, Sammy went up to his bed to gather Hector for a tug-of-war game. But Hector was nowhere to be found. Sammy sniffed under the couch, behind the curtains, and even on top of the beds to find his fluffy friend, but with no luck.

He felt confused and frustrated, because he had left Hector lying on the bed when he went downstairs for his snack. Sammy asked some of his friends around the house for help. First, he stopped in front of the hamster cage. Charlie the Hamster was asleep at the wheel.

Luckily, Sammy remembered that nobody likes to be woken up from a nap with licks and yips. Sitting down, Sammy asked gently, Excuse me, Mr. Charlie?

Ever so slowly, one sleepy eyelid slid open to reveal a beady black eye. From under the orange fur came a muffled, Hmm?

I don’t know where my purple dinosaur is. I know you don’t leave your cage often, but have you seen him by chance? Has he come to sit on top of your house today?

Sleepily, Mr. Charlie replied, Sorry, Sammy, I haven’t seen him today, buddy. I will keep one eye out and let you know if I see him.

Sighing, Sammy said, Thanks for your help, Charlie, and continued with his quest. Seeing Tommy the Cat lounging on the sofa, Sammy asked, Yo, Tommyboy! Would you happen to have seen Hector? He’s always up for a nap.

Nah man, I haven’t seen the dino anywhere. Maybe try the girl’s bedroom? I know sometimes she likes to invite him for tea parties.

Sammy snuck into Little Sister’s room and kept an eye out for purple. But Hector was nowhere in sight. Darn! I know I put him back in my bed when I went downstairs for lunch. What happened to him?

Sammy trotted back downstairs and saw Remy patrolling the backyard to keep Rufus the Evil Red Squirrel off the lawn. Sam joined the patrol, and the two kept the back lawn squirrel-free all afternoon. As they were heading in for another snack, the ground thundered with a STOMP, STOMP, STOMP, and a shadow loomed over them. Sammy looked skyward to see an enormous purple Hadrosaurus, taller than a ten-story building with red dots along the ridge of his back. Sammy barked ferociously with a courage Remy had never seen, alerting the dinosaur to the tiny corgis. In response, a growl rumbled deep within the dinosaur’s throat and bubbled into a deafening roar.

Terrified and suddenly very aware of just how tiny they were standing next to the giant, Sammy and Remy took off as fast as their stubby legs could carry them. They ran out of the backyard, through the gate with the loose board, over the pothole in the middle of Sawoosh street, and down Main Street, far away from the terrifying purple creature. The dinosaur followed, crushing entire buildings with one step, and leaving crater-sized footprints in the park as he passed.

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Over here, Sammy! he called to his companion, motioning with a paw to a small hiding spot. In the alley behind some older homes, there was an old overturned red wagon, and they crept silently between the shadows to hide beneath it. The monster stopped at the alley entrance, sniffing and growling as he searched for the hidden dogs.

As he searched, he caught sight of a man who had stepped out of his office building to enjoy lunch in the sunshine. The short man had a cherry red nose with round gold wire frame