Jasmine’s Big Idea

Table of Contents

• Cute Times Five
• Doggie Drama
• Friends to the Rescue
• Meeting Madison
• Frisky Frankie
• Keiko’s Surprise
• Carnival Crafting
• A Major Mistake
• A New Forever Friend
• Terrific Teamwork

Cute Times Five

Jasmine Arroyo has never seen something as cute as a litter of six-week-old kittens. Her own dog, Cookie, is pretty adorable, but these five kittens have five times the cuteness. They’re loudly mewing, looking at Jasmine with curious eyes.

Jasmine turns to her mom, Dr. Lydia Arroyo, who is a veterinarian. The kittens being noisy is good, right? Jasmine’s mom agrees with her. It means the kittens are getting stronger. The kittens arrived three days ago along with their mother to an animal shelter, Rosa’s Refuge Animal Shelter, run by Rosa Wallace. Mrs. Wallace normally keeps the kittens on the second shelf against the wall, but when Jasmine visits, they’re moved to a cardboard box on the floor.

Jasmine reaches into the box and pets the kitten she named Tiger between his ears. His brown fur is almost the same color as her own corkscrew curls. Thanks to her mom, Jasmine knows the kittens need plenty of water, food, and sometimes even medicine to stay healthy. But, since she began volunteering at the animal shelter, Jasmine has also learned that petting and playing with dogs and cats is just as important. Mrs. Wallace says the animals need to get used to other humans and animals before being adopted.

Mrs. Wallace enters the room carrying a bag of groceries. She smiles warmly at Jasmine as she straightens her thick glasses. Soon, the kittens’ mother will be healthy enough to take care of her babies again, thanks to Dr. Arroyo. When they’re a bit older, they’ll try to find the kittens’ forever homes. Whenever strays or abandoned animals come in, Mrs. Wallace and her husband ensure the animals are healthy, and then find them new, loving families. Jasmine thinks it sounds like a wonderful job.

Dr. Arroyo comes to get Jasmine to go home for dinner. Jasmine hates leaving the shelter. She’d come by every day if she could. But for now, she’ll have to settle for every Saturday. Before she leaves, Mrs. Wallace says she could use Jasmine’s help with something. Mrs. Wallace points out the window at an empty storefront next to her shelter with a For Sale sign on the window. She explains how she’d like to expand into that empty storefront. Although her shelter has areas for cats, puppies, larger dogs, private rooms, and a small fenced-in yard, it’s still not enough space. If they’re out of space, they can’t always take in the animals that are brought in, and they need to be turned away. But, they don’t have the money right now to buy the store and remodel it. Mrs. Wallace says she’d like to have a community fundraiser, but she needs help with organizing.

Jasmine suddenly has an idea. Maybe she can help organize the fundraiser. Her mom helped the PTA plan the spring fair at her school last year, and they raised a lot of money for books for the library. Mrs. Wallace replies that sounds like a wonderful idea. Perhaps a carnival park across the street. Her friend can set up a small petting zoo, and they can have a bouncy castle and sell t-shirts. They can ask local businesses to match donations, and maybe even have an adopt-a-cat trailer out.

Jasmine, nodding, suggests they can raffle off prizes and have a cool arts-and-crafts area. Mrs. Wallace says maybe Jasmine can be the assistant carnival planner. It’ll be helpful to have her ideas. Dr. Arroyo recognizes the determined gleam in Jasmine’s eyes, and knows there’s no stopping her.

But, it’s time to go home for dinner. Dad is making pastelón, a Puerto Rican lasagna. As they walk to the car, Jasmine realizes something. What happens to the animals that Mrs. Wallace has to turn away? Her mom turns serious. If they can’t find a home for the animals, they need to put them to sleep. It’s very sad.

Now Jasmine realizes how important it is they can make the shelter bigger. Jasmine just has to help make the carnival a success.