Local Author to Bring Story of Orphaned Calves’ Rescue to Life at Children’s Book-Reading Event
For Immediate Release:
November 11, 2024
Contact:
Rachel Hershkovitz 202-483-7382
Families attending the Bridgeton Public Library’s fourth annual Indie Author Day on Saturday are in for an udderly delightful time, as author and Bridgeton resident Helga Tacreiter will give a special reading of her new children’s book, Harvey and the Lightning Herd. The book, written in collaboration with PETA, tells the sweet story of Tacreiter’s friendship with Harvey and how nursing him back to health—after a disastrous storm left him with a disability as a calf—led her to open The Cow Sanctuary, a local animal sanctuary that provides cows, pigs, and other animals with lifelong care. Tacreiter will host the reading from a faux-fur “cowch”—a life-size plush likeness of the titular cow, Harvey—which she lovingly handcrafted and which was donated to the library by PETA.
The event will also feature an appearance by the book’s illustrator, Denise V. Tremblay, of the Philadelphia area. Light refreshments (including vegan options) will be served, and books will be raffled off.
Where: Bridgeton Public Library, 150 E. Commerce St., Bridgeton
When: Saturday, November 16, 12 noon to 3 p.m.
“Kids and parents alike are sure to love seeing Harvey’s heartwarming story come to life, and it may even inspire them to become heroes for animals themselves,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages families to join us for an afternoon of fun and learning featuring an uplifting tale about the power of kindness.”
Tacreiter, who was born in Poland, immigrated to the U.S. with her family as a child. For more than 30 years, she has rescued cows and other animals typically used in the food industry. She has taken in cows rescued during PETA’s cruelty investigations, from closed-down family farms, and from 4-H programs and university agriculture classes after compassionate students saved them from slaughter. Tremblay worked in higher education before pursuing her lifelong interest in illustration and graphic storytelling. She went vegan 28 years ago after visiting a farmed-animal sanctuary. Harvey and the Lightning Herd is her first picture book.
Harvey and the Lightning Herd also features a surprise on the back cover: a QR code that links to “Cow Wow”—an original song by Tony Award–winning composers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison that’s chock-full of fun facts about cows that will get kiddos boppin’ to the beat for bovines. The book is available now on Amazon and at the PETA Shop—the latter sells a version that includes a plush cow toy. All profits from the book will go to The Cow Sanctuary.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
