Salisbury puppy publishes book on growing up during Covid

Raven, a black labrador born on March 10 2020, found himself growing up in strange, unprecedented times.

'Raven's Pandemic Tails' documents Raven's humorous journey through puppyhood during lockdown, sharing thoughts on Covid, the world he has been brought up in and his relationship with others.

Raven (Image: Public)

Susan Stennett, Raven's owner, began writing "Facebook rants" at the start of the pandemic.

One day in late 2020, the amateur author from Salisbury decided to write a rant from Raven's point-of-view, she said: "My friends thought it was really cool and told me to put it into a book.

"It's also a snapshot of time, a record of a period we all lived through and will never forget."

For Susan, the process of securing a publishing deal has been "a bit of a minefield" so she decided to self-publish the book.

Read more: Mum of two starts a thrift shop in Durrington Junior School

She commissioned Nicole Wykes to illustrate the book, creating three distinctive characters - Scout, Raven's "know-it-all" older sister, and Louis, the "psychopathic cat" who hates dogs.

Raven and Scout (Image: Public)

Susan believes the book has universal appeal "rather like a Disney film", she added: "Obviously it would appeal to dog lovers. I think older children would understand it on one level but there's parts only parents would understand.

"There's a reference on one of the entries to Trump and I hope the parents would find it quite funny."

'Raven's Pandemic Tails' is currently on sale for £8 at Stuff Emporium on Winchester Street and Bluestone Hydrotherapy in Amesbury.

The book is also for sale on Amazon and Susan hopes to get it into Waterstones in time for Christmas.