Grief over the death of their Golden Retriever spawned a just-released children’s book and kids’ dog blog full of surprises for blogger Michael Cohn, 5, and his mom, award-winning writer Lisa Cohn of Portland, Ore.

Their children’s book, “Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence,” is about a wise but mischievous Golden Retriever who teaches a boys’ sports team about teamwork and sportsmanship and instills confidence in the players.

“We started the blog and book to help us cope with the pain of losing our dear Lucy at the age of 6,” says Lisa Cohn. “We never expected it to take us on such an adventure. We’ve learned how passionate people are about dogs and how much dogs can help, heal and teach kids and adults.”

The response to “Michael’s Dog Blog,” which features dog book reviews by 5-year-old Michael (on YouTube), has surprised the authors. A number of other authors have asked Michael to review their books on his YouTube channel. He’s working his way through his stack of books. The blog also provides dog facts for kids.

Lisa and Michael plan to visit schools talking to young kids about how and why they wrote their book and how much they’ve learned doing their blog.

“What began as an attempt to overcome our grief has morphed into a mission to instill in kids a love of dogs and dog books,” says Lisa Cohn.

In addition, the authors have been touched by their readers’ intense love for their canine companions. For example, a story by Lisa in Dogster Magazine elicited strong reactions expressed on Dogster’s website and via email.

Read reviews and buy the book here:
Buy “Bash And Lucy Fetch Confidence”

Follow “Michael’s Dog Blog” at Michael’s Dog Blog

The book is illustrated by Portland illustrator Heather Nichols.

Lisa’s other books have won awards from the organizations Parenting Publications of America, Voice of Youth Advocates, and ForeWord.

The authors are planning a book release party and benefit for the Oregon Humane Society in October.

For more information, contact Lisa Cohn at BashAndLucy@gmail.com.