Welcome to my class! My name is Professor Charlie, and I am so excited to show you all the fun things my assistant and I have been learning. My assistant is my mom, and she is super helpful! She reads all of the research we do together out loud, takes me for walks when it is time for a break, finds yummy treats for the both of us to share, and also does all the typing since she has fingers and thumbs, and I only have paws, and the most important thing of all, she gives the best belly rubs. My job is to give her fun ideas to look up, to keep her warm with cuddles, and to try not to bark at the mailman. I make no promises about the last one. We make a really great team!

On a warm and sunny day, my assistant and I took a break and went for a walk. As we entered the park, we saw a small brown animal with a long, fluffy tail that I had never seen before. We stopped, and I asked the small animal what kind of animal they were. The small animal stopped and said that she was a squirrel. I was so amazed by this little squirrel that I asked her if my assistant and I could stay and talk for a little while because I really wanted to learn about an animal I had never seen before. She happily said yes, and after asking her all of my questions and sharing our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with her, I knew all about squirrels, like what they like to eat and where they lived. We thanked our new friend, said goodbye, and finished our walk.

After we returned home, my assistant and I relaxed on the cozy sofa, and I was thinking about our walk. I asked her what other kinds of animals were out there. My mom, sorry, I meant my assistant, said there were so many different kinds of animals. She said that some animals can swim in the deep ocean or fly over the tallest mountain. I was so happy to hear this that my tail began to wag really hard, I thought it was going to fly away. This was so exciting! I quickly jumped up from the sofa, gently got my assistant’s laptop for her, and placed it on her lap. I then put my head on her lap, looked up at her and gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes, and asked if we could look up some more animals. Of course, she said yes because my puppy eyes always work, and my mom loves to learn! We had so much fun looking up all of these different animals. Who knew that animals could look so different from each other but still have some things in common? It is just amazing! Then I had an idea!

I told my assistant we had such a great time learning about these different animals that we needed to share this information with you, my new pup pal! So, that is what we did. My assistant and I sat down, found all the best fun facts about these animals, and wrote this book for you! Please don’t worry if you don’t understand something that I wrote because I made sure everything was super easy to look up if you didn’t understand. Looking up things you don’t know is a wonderful way for you to learn how to be a researcher like me! But please ask an adult if it is ok to use the computer before you begin your research. Manners and safety first! I hope you enjoy our book, our new pup pal. We will see you for your next lesson!