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Holiday spirit arrives with ‘The Christmas Dog’

Stephanie Webber Abington Journal Intern

FLEETVILLE- A stray, seven-year old rescue dog Bella recently became the inspiration for the creation of a holiday book. Owner Peter V. Tafuri, Fleetville, and his wife Narda, adopted Bella from a shelter in West Virginia just about seven years ago and now use her friendly behavior as a key trait in “The Christmas Dog.”

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Peter V. Tafuri, Fleetville, and his wife Narda, adopted Bella from a shelter in West Virginia just about seven years ago and use her friendly behavior as a key trait in the book, “The Christmas Dog.”

Abington Journal/Natalie Mennicucci

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Factoryville resident Natalie Mennicucci collaborated on ‘The Christmas Dog’ as its illustrator. Mennicucci took photographs of Bella and used Photoshop as a guide. Her use of three different mediums consisted of outlining the pictures with an ink pen, watercolor and a colored pencil for the last step.

Abington Journal/Natalie Mennicucci

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“The Christmas Dog” is not the typical holiday story, according to Tafuri. He wrote the book with the intention on drawing on the historical event of the very first Christmas, a Christian holy day which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. With relation to Bella, the story revolves around a stray dog, which in this case is trying to be adopted by people in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. His parents Mary and Joseph are the first to greet Bella and she later leads them all out of Jerusalem to safety.

“By using a dog’s point of view, it is trying to show people that (Christmas) is more about giving than receiving,” Tafuri stated. Tafuri believes that this specific story can represent the true meaning of Christmas. “This story has more of a religious and traditional theme that has the feeling of being told around a Yule log instead of a television.”

Tafuri received his undergraduate education at St. Johns, N.Y. in history and biology. He later went on to receive his master’s in counseling in 1998 from The University of Scranton. He also studied at The University of Paris in France for two years. “The Christmas Dog” is his first book.

Bella started to train as a therapy dog shortly after being adopted. The Tafuris currently bring Bella to volunteer at hospitals, nursing homes and libraries. As a therapy dog, Bella is able to bring joy to others. An example is when children have the chance to read to her at local libraries. “Dogs don’t judge anyone. By reading to Bella, kids get excited about reading.”

Factoryville resident Natalie Mennicucci collaborated on the story as its illustrator. Having graduated in 2007 from Marywood University with a major in photography and a minor in illustration, Mennicucci thought the project seemed like a great fit. And as a family friend of the Tafuris, Mennicucci also had a lot of past experience spending time with Bella.

“It was a two -year process,” Mennicucci said. “I did the children’s illustrations as my independent study in my senior year at Marywood.” She continued to create more than 10 illustrations for the story and worked closely with an advisor who helped with any changes and color selections. Mennicucci took photographs of Bella and used Photoshop as a guide. Her use of three different mediums consisted of outlining the pictures with an ink pen, watercolor and a colored pencil for the last step.

“The Christmas Dog” was released for publication a month ago. Its retail price is $9.95 in paperback. For more information on the book and Tafuri, visit his web site at frostpocketfarmbooks.com.