On July 2, more than 140 children attended the Livingston Parish Library, Watson Branch's puppy paw-ty, featuring the iconic blue and orange heeler dogs from a popular children's show.
Petite Princess Company, which brought the puppies to the party, is Louisiana's largest children's entertainment company, providing options for character-themed events ranging from princesses to superheroes, and even characters from popular children's shows.
Owner Venessa Lewis described the entire process as "edu-tainment," providing not only a fun outlet for children's energy and creativity but also educating them on real-world topics. Lewis described past parties where popular princesses taught children about Louisiana history, and mermaids discussed the importance of ocean conservation.
"We've been able to draw [inspiration] from the local community [to also] entertain our local community," Lewis said.
The festivities for this paw-some party included high-energy songs and dances, show-themed mini games, and interactive book reading. The blue and orange dog mascots each wore dinosaur-themed tail and nose decorations to align with the library's dinosaur summer reading theme.
One such mini game was "Keepy Uppy," based on the show's episode of the same name, where the children needed to keep several colorful balloons floating in the air for as long as possible without letting them touch the ground.
One of the interactive stories involved children mimicking the process of a butterfly's metamorphosis, and another had them practicing their best dinosaur roar. Each of the books read during the party counted toward the children's summer reading book goals.
The consensus after the story about different dinosaurs was that the Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) was the crowd's favorite, with the Triceratops a close second.
After the party wound down, the children were invited to take pictures with the blue and orange pups in front of the library's dinosaur mural.
