When I was a little girl, I took all my money out of the bank (about eight dollars) and bought a parakeet whom I named Winky Blue. I was thrilled to have a pet of my own and headed off to our local library in search of a book about the adventures of a little girl and her pet parakeet. I imagined that the parakeet in the story would be a hero, like Lassie. He could catch crooks, save people from drowning, and carry urgent messages in his beak. When I failed to find any books about an heroic parakeet (or even an ordinary one) I bought a small spiral notebook and began writing my own. This was the beginning of my life as an author, and the seed of an idea that eventually grew into the “Winky Blue” series.

In these six books Rosie is always scheming to turn her parakeet into a hero and a star with funny and sometimes disastrous results. In the end Rosie realizes her love for Winky Blue is more important than fame—until the next book, that is!

• Winky Blue was a real and important part of Pamela’s growing up, and contributed to her love of writing. Have the children write a story about their own pets, or a pet they wish they owned. The story can be written from the child’s point of view, or from the pet points of view, or both.
• Designate a special day as “Pet Day” when the children bring their pets to school and read stories they have written with their own pet as the main character. This day will be a lasting memory and motivate the children to write a unique story about a pet that has special meaning in their lives.