Janet Councilman’s Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift is modern fable featuring classic values and lessons.

Fables are short stories featuring animal characters and contain moral lessons and values. Most of us grew up reading Aesop’s fables such as The Hare and the Tortoise, The Animals and the Plague, and The Ant and the Grasshopper. Today, there are hundreds of modern fables from modern authors. Although modern tales feature new characters and plots, the lessons and the values they uphold all remain the same. Author Janet Councilman has produced several interesting animal books. One of the books features a shark.

Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift

Published in 2019, Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift features the story of a young shark named Sammie. Sammie, along with his friends, resides in the colorful Coral Bay. Sammie is a happy and friendly shark. Sammie also likes adventures and is always out with his friends. One day, while out for a stroll, Sammie stumbled upon a treasure. It is a bright reflective item lying on the seafloor. The treasure is a gift for a special person. Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift is a heartwarming fable that celebrates the virtues of thoughtfulness and fellowship towards others. Sammie the Shark also reveals the beauty of nature, and more importantly, the amazing creatures living under the majestic sea like Sammie and his friends.

Aside from Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift, Janet Councilman published several children’s books in the past – Rocky Raccoon and His Caring Classmates (2014), Petie the Penguin and the Electric Igloo (2015), and Rocky the Respectful Raccoon (2019)

Janet Councilman Children’s Books

Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and His Red Sunglasses (2008)

Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and His Red Sunglasses is the first book in Janet Councilman’s six-part series dealing with character traits taught in elementary schools. The main character is a raccoon named Rocky. He serves as the leader of a group of friends living in the Old Oak Woods. His friends include Spike the split-eared Squirrel, Tommie the Turtle, Ollie the Owl, Carmen the Cardinal, and many others. Raccoon helps his friends make the right decisions every time they are facing a problem. Each story in the series features a problem that the characters must overcome. Each of the stories ends on a positive note. In Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and His Red Sunglasses, the character Rocky stumbles upon a pair of big red sunglasses on a beautiful autumn day.

Rocky and His Responsible Band of Cowboys (2009)

Rockey and His Responsible Band of Cowboys is Janet Councilman’s second book in the series. It tells the story of Rockey and his friends whom we met in the first book Rocky the Respectful Racoon and His Red Sunglasses.

Rocky Raccoon and His Caring Classmates (2014)

Rocky Raccoon and His Caring Classmates is the third book in Janet Councilman’s series that deals with character traits taught in elementary schools. It tells the story of a raccoon named Rocky. Rocky heads up a Cookie Swap with the help of their school principal, the faculty, and the parents. The story is set in the Old Oak Woods during various seasons. This story takes place during the Holidays with the students baking cookies for the cookie swap. Each story features a dilemma that the characters successfully faced, ending each story on a positive note. 

Petie the Penguin and the Electric Igloo (2015)

Petie the Penguin is a story about an inquisitive penguin who loves to travel. Petie is a cool penguin who also loves to read. But Petie is a willful penguin. He is quite disobedient to his parents. Petie the Penguin decides to travel through the Ice Mountains without his parent’s permission. Petie’s travel led him to a beautiful Igloo in a village called Slipperyville. Tired and hungry from his travel, Petie decides to knock on the Igloo’s door. According to Councilman, Petie’s character is based on his brother Pete. While growing up in Graham, she used to tell her brother that if she wrote a book one day, she’d name the main character after him.

Rocky Raccoon and His Raiders Vs. the Prowlers (2015)

Rocky Raccoon and His Raiders vs the Prowlers feature Rocky and his friends playing basketball against the Prowlers. It is their last basketball game of the spring season. This story deals with the character trait ‘Fairness’. Even though the Prowlers are bigger than the Raiders, the Raiders coach instills in his players, playing by the rules and playing fair. A good lesson is learned during the game.

About the Author

Janet Councilman is an author, artist, and designer from Burlington, North Carolina. Janet attended the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida where she majored in commercial art. Her love of art and the beach is why she wrote “Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift.” She has been drawing portraits of people, children, and pets since 2000. She has also worked with autistic students for eleven years at South Graham Elementary. Janet also designs and makes cards, and also does portraits.