The Woohoo! Report

Eight-year-old Joshua Bayer wrote a 10-page book about monsters, which represent dogs and cats and how they should be treated with respect. (Courtesy Of Bayer Family)

Boy Writes Book On Animal Rights

By James Hohmann
Washington Post Staff Writer

It’s no “Harry Potter,” but 8-year-old Joshua Bayer’s book about monsters is getting much attention around his hometown of La Plata.

Joshua wrote and illustrated “M-M-M-Monster!!!” to raise money for animal rescue efforts. Two stores are selling the self-published book (courtesy of his mother) to help his cause, and his parents have set up a Web site to assist with the aspiring author’s debut.

“He never gives up,” Deni Bayer, 37, said of her son, a rising third-grader who spent much of the summer working on the book. “For him to sit still this long, any of his teachers will tell you, is a big deal.”

The 10-page book is infused with the machinations of an imaginative young mind. Monsters are attacking a family’s house. At first, the family tries to get rid of the creatures. But then, the father discovers a hidden door in the basement that leads to an abandoned mine. Rather than fight the monsters from a portal into another world, the family clears 40 acres for them to stay.

The monsters represent dogs and cats, Joshua said. Some people look down on them, he said, but they should be treated with respect.

Joshua comes from a family that loves to rescue animals. His aunt and uncle in New York rescued 17 dogs, he said. Another aunt rescued two. Joshua and his brothers — Jake, 14, and Luke, 12 — have three dogs and one cat.

“I Googled it, and I figured out that more than 3,000 dogs are dying each year,” Joshua said. “People don’t adopt them, or they’re dying in the streets.”

Joshua had saved up money and told his mother he wanted to donate all of it to organizations that help animals. She said she would print his story about monsters if he completed the book.

Although his grandmother and an aunt have told him he should be a veterinarian, Joshua is apprehensive about pursuing such a career path.

“If I was a veterinarian and I couldn’t save a dog, like I had to put one to sleep, I’d be heartbroken,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Josh Joson, who is selling copies of Joshua’s book at his jewelry and boutique store in downtown La Plata, was impressed by the boy’s love for animals.

“I had my puppy in the store one time,” Joson said. “I just saw that Josh was a dog lover. . . . It’s something you want to encourage, especially locally.”

The Bayers once rescued a Great Dane/Labrador mix through the St. Mary’s Animal Welfare League of Leonardtown. League President Barb Whipkey said it is nice that Joshua has his heart in the right place.

“Obviously, children learn better from other children,” Whipkey said. “If we can start with the children, they can grow up knowing how to care for animals and that someone needs to look out for animals.”

The book’s initial print run is 150 copies; the book sells for $10. Joshua said he will divide the proceeds from book sales among Whipkey’s group, the Charles County Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

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