"Lilly The Cat" by Destiny Conley, An Early Reader Book With A Kentucky Connection

Recently I strayed into a copy of an early reader book for K-2 or so readers with a strong Kentucky connection. The title of the book is a bit confusing since there is another more widely known book for children by the same title and written by a different author. If you go hunting for a copy of this book online, be sure that you are locating the book which has been written and illustrated by Destiny Conley and published by STARS Publishing. It was also an outcome of a project by Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative. But a search of the websites of both the publisher and KVEC failed to locate any information about the book. And to further complicate any history or sales information about the book, it was actually printed by a third organization, Minutemen Press in Lexington, Kentucky. The publication date was 2016. The information I was able to find about KVEC identifies it as "...one of eight education cooperatives in Kentucky consisting of 27 member school districts. The organization serves 161 schools with over 53,000 students and nearly 4,000 educators." The website shows a mailing address of 412 Roy Campbell Drive, Hazard, KY. It's listed members serve a large geographical area in the watersheds of the Big Sandy, Licking, and Kentucky Rivers. The book appears to have been chosen as a result of a contest for students being served by KVEC, and it seems that the author and editor was actually a student in some program served by KVEC. The primary character in the book is a cat named Lily who loses her favorite ball of yarn and finds it in the possession of a mouse. When the mouse refuses to surrender the ball of yarn "Lily comes up with an idea" and asks the mouse if they can share the ball of yarn. The story ends with both Lily and mouse remembering "that sharing is caring". It is nice little book written in age appropriate language for early learners, and the author/illustrator was apparently at roughly the same age as the target audience when she wrote the book. It is a nice little book for both teachers and parents to utilize in the effort to teach and reinforce sharing behaviors in young children. However, considering the fact that I found it difficult to learn more about the book, it might be a bit of stretch to locate more copies. But the internet is always a great place to find almost anything. Good Luck!