Lydia Crochet Wins State Literacy Award

admin Wednesday, August 17, 2016 Comments Off on Lydia Crochet Wins State Literacy Award
Lydia Crochet Wins State Literacy Award

Lydia Crochet is a children’s book author who lives in Lake Charles with her husband, Ray, and rescue dog, Jeanie. Her book “Jeanie the 3-Legged Dog; I Don’t Need Four Feet” has won two literacy awards this year from the Louisiana Reading Assoc.

IMG_1137 The Calcasieu Parish Reading Council President Susan Gardebled nominated the book for the Louisiana Reading Association’s Celebrate Literacy award. Crochet won the Celebrate Literacy Award for Calcasieu Parish in May and went on to represent the parish at the state level and won again. The state level award is the LRA Literacy Award.

The book is also a finalist in the 2016 Indie Book Awards.

Crochet is a member of the Southwest Louisiana Children’s Book Writers’ and Illustrators’ Guild and the Dr. Dogs Pet Therapy Team.

After working many years in the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office, Lydia now spends her time free lance writing for Lagniappe Magazine and visiting hospitals, libraries and special events with Jeanie, who is a certified therapy dog.

Jeanie is a three-legged therapy dog and the star of this children’s book. The book reminds readers that anything is possible and it’s okay to be different. Jeanie shares a message of courage and acceptance, choosing to focus on the things she can do instead of her limitations. “I may be different. But I am complete. I can do most things like dogs with four feet!”

Jeanie is an adopted rescue. She was found in a rural area outside of Lake Charles in 2007 when she was five or six months old. She had a deformed and crippled front leg that made it difficult for her to walk. Jeanie was brought to a local vet’s office where they removed the leg, spayed her and listed her for adoption with a local animal rescue organization.

IMG_1144 Jeanie is a mix of Pomeranian, Yorkie, Poodle and Papillion. When she’s not spreading smiles on social media, Jeanie enjoys hanging out with her colleagues on the Dr. Dog’s Pet Therapy team. She visits hospitals and nursing homes, where she brings joy and hope to those who need it most, especially fellow amputees. She’s involved in a reading program, in which she listens as children read their favorite books to her at the local library. Jeanie also works with the Children’s Advocacy Center, where she comforts abused children while they are questioned by forensic investigators. This is her favorite job, as she knows exactly why she’s there and who needs comforting.

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