Hi! My name is Anna and I'm the writer of The Sausage Squad stories.

This is me and my Miniature Dapple Dachshund girl, Luna. You might recognise her from our books and guessed she was one of the main inspirations behind these stories.

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However, how the squad came to exist took much more than that.

It was really a mixture of many wonderful people and animals as well as the discovery (or I should say re-discovery) of a love for literature and childhood imagination.

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You may be interested to know that Luna, Pedro, Ed and Lola are all Dachshunds (or Sausage Dogs), I'm lucky enough to have in my life. I have watched them bring joy, comfort and laughter to many people over the last few years. The bond they form with children almost instantly and the similarities they have despite being different species inspired me to bring the stories to life. I have witnessed them help children develop kindness, understanding and respect for living things. And I've used their fun-loving, childlike viewpoints to write books which are whimsical but stay connected to reality, current culture, issues and general life. I hope that this way children can connect to our squad and live through important life events together.

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To make our first book (The Sausage Squad and the Transportational Tunnel) even more special, we have partnered with Starlight Children's Foundation to donate our profits from sales and provide books for children in hospitals.

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“When children face life-threatening and life-limiting conditions, we find ways to help them have better days.” - Starlight

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During the 2020 pandemic, a friend had brought to my attention the devastating effects COVID-19 had on charities. Independent charities fundraise most of their donations through events which had sadly all been cancelled due to the pandemic. That meant the donations they had coming in had virtually become non-existent and these are of course vital for the causes they support.

So I thought, why not create something that could offer financial support but also bring joy in other ways... Voila, The Sausage Squad was born.

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Throughout this project it has also been hugely important for me to work with and support local talent and businesses. Our book is written, illustrated and printed in the United Kingdom.

Our printer is dedicated to reducing their environmental impact. You can view more of their transparent steps taken here.

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Also a special thank you to our illustrator Julie Bryden Design, who is an absolute superstar to work with and has created the most beautiful illustrations for our book.

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And to Pedro, Ed, Lola and all our pet friends for inspiring us to put this little story together.

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Heres to little legs and big hearts!