There once was a little girl named Natalie. She was the youngest member of her family. She lived with her dad, mom, and older brother.

Natalie loved her mom. She followed her around and always wanted to be doing what she was doing.

Often times, Natalie felt frustrated because her mom would hold these thick piles of paper for hours on end. Natalie did not understand what was so great about these boring papers with no pictures on them.

<--- An example of Natalie looking frustrated.

When Natalie became a little older, she realized that what her mom was doing was called reading, and that those thick piles of paper were called books. She knew she wanted to read books, but certainly ones with colorful and exciting pictures like the ones she saw her brother reading.

One afternoon, she snuck into her brother's room, a strictly FORBIDDEN territory. She made sure to wear her fuzziest socks to avoid making the old floorboards squeak. She couldn't read the titles just yet, but she judged the books by the pictures on the front. To her dismay, she only found pictures of football players, skateboarders, and snakes. None of these interested her.

Natalie just didn't get it. She wanted to know where she could find books that interested her. She especially craved books about her favorite thing in the world- animals.

Once Natalie got her little hands on animal books, she could not stop reading. She was determined to convince her parents that she was responsible enough to have a pet, but she would have to settle on a fish because of her dad's allergies. Her parents were so impressed with her research, they agreed to get her a purple beta fish who she decided to name Fred.

^ Natalie's determined face.

Natalie loved Fred. She changed his water frequently, always made sure he was well-fed, and loved to change the decor of his bowl. She realized that she learned all of this from the books she had read, so she decided to write a guide to owning fish for other kids to read. She titled the guide, Fred. This guide was the first of many books Natalie would write.

Unfortunately, Fred eventually met his demise due to unknown circumstances. Natalie felt lost without a pet. She weighed her options and decided the next pet she would extensively research would be birds. Natalie read books and books on cockatiels, and eventually her family adopted a young cockatiel named Ollie.

Natalie was beginning to realize the power of books. She had convinced her parents to get two pets at this point, and she was very proud of that. Her entire family loved Ollie, and she could not help but feel that she created that dynamic.

Years later, when Natalie was in middle school Ollie flew away. This time, not only did Natalie feel lost, but her whole family felt like something was missing. Natalie set out to research her most desired pet of all- a puppy. She devised a plan and created an extremely thorough presentation using all of the information she researched in hopes to convince her parents she was ready for a dog.