Gonzales

About the Book

This is a story about a pet - a pet that happens to be a dog. The dog’s name is Gonzales, and he was born in Puerto Rico, now a part of America.

You may have a pet of your own; a cat, a rabbit, or even a parrot. Pets depend on you for lots of loving care, for remembering to feed them, and in hot weather, to leave a bowl of water out for them, keeping it full until night comes. You probably remember your dog, or dogs you might see on the street, with their mouths part way open, and with their tongues hanging out. If you are close, you can hear breathing, that sounds louder than it is in normal weather, or in your house when it is too hot outside.

Pets are wonderful, especially when you become 5 or 6, and you can have one as a playmate until you are 12 or 13 or older. Your mum and dad will tell you that a lot of families, and older single men, and women, have a pet all their life.

Pets can be a comfort to older people. You can talk to them, and although pets can’t answer back, they can show they like what is being said in various ways. Dogs wag their tail, cats’ purr, which is like a pleasing whirring sound. All pets that are given a happy home have a way of letting you know they hear you, and are happy for all kind attention. The more you pet a dog, the happier that dog’s life will be.

The story you are about to read is almost a story of how many real lives unfold. Gonzales was born in poverty - he didn’t even know his mother, after a few days, because she left the haystack where he was born to go and forage for food and water.

Gonzales was lucky. It had rained a lot in Puerto Rico for 3 days, and as he wobbled into the big world outside the barn, and haystack where he was born, he found lots of puddles of water. After another day, he walked a little steadier, and sniffed some food in back of a little restaurant. He nosed into some bags of rubbish, and found more leftover food than he could possibly eat.

That was how Gonzales started out in life, but he was strong-willed, and smart, and he knew that he had to make his own luck - not by wishful thinking, but by developing an instinct that would move him up the ladder of life.

Perhaps when you’ve read “Gonzales” you will want your parents to share it with you, and seeing if that they too feel there is a life lesson to be learned, from Gonzales’ experiences, as a smart loving dog.

About the Author

Bill Fine became publisher of Harpers Bazaar at age 29. At age 37, he was already Publishing Director of Harpers Bazaar, Town & Country, and House Beautiful.