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Short Stories

Little Haley Stories - Book 2
Juliana Cuddles

by Amy Arnaz

I rattled my brain over and over to think of a name for the many bedtime stories I made up for my daughter, Haley, when she was little. Then I remembered my favorite series of stories from my childhood – Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. Voila! That’s it! I’ll call them my Little Haley Stories. Perfect.

So far, two of my stories are in book form – The Magic Tutu, which was released last summer, and now just released, Juliana Cuddles. Is Juliana Cuddles the sequel to The Magic Tutu? Yes. It picks up right where The Magic Tutu left off.


I rattled my brain over and over to think of a name for the many bedtime stories I made up for my daughter, Haley, when she was little. Then I remembered my favorite series of stories from my childhood – Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. Voila! That’s it! I’ll call them my Little Haley Stories. Perfect.

So far, two of my stories are in book form – The Magic Tutu, which was released last summer, and now just released, Juliana Cuddles. Is Juliana Cuddles the sequel to The Magic Tutu? Yes. It picks up right where The Magic Tutu left off.

Juliana Cuddles was originally presented as a ballet called “BC Kitty Cats” at the Boulder Theatre for the youngest members of the Boulder City Ballet Company (BCBC).

When I decided to turn the ballet into a book, I decided to change the name too. Why? I didn’t think having “BC” in the title would mean anything to a mother in Ohio who was searching Amazon.com for a sweet story to read to her little one. “BC” really only means something to those of us who are lucky enough to live here.

Since the story was about my real life niece, Desiree, and the cat she adopted from the animal shelter, I thought re-naming the story after the lucky cat was perfect. Thus, Juliana Cuddles.

The story of Desiree adopting this cat is the perfect vehicle to carry an essential message to all children who read this book. And that message is that Real Love is waiting for all of us – and it’s not in the form of money and diamond necklaces. For Desiree, it was in the form of a little girl kitten with four white paws. Desiree goes through a transformation in the story. She has to put away the “old Desiree” and her old thoughts of what she thinks will make her happy so she can receive real love and real happiness. Quite an apropos topic even for us adults!

We gave the proceeds from the BC Kitty Cats ballet to the old Boulder City Animal Shelter.

Just today I saw a sample of the handmade Little Desiree doll that will accompany the release of the Juliana Cuddles book. The book and doll together make the sweetest gift ever.

When you walk by the Boulder Theatre, peek at the book and doll display in the theatre window. There’s also a Little Haley doll that accompanies The Magic Tutu.

How did the Little Haley Stories come about? They’re all stories I told my daughter, Haley, when she was growing up. I did read her traditional bedtime stories but I also made up stories for her about things that happened that day in her busy Boulder City life. She always liked my made-up stories the best. All of the stories hold a virtue.

And now, I’m putting these stories into book form so little girls everywhere can enjoy them. I have two more books underway.

One will be called Clara’s Nutcracker and it’s about the emotions and events that our dancers experience in the months leading up to our annual Nutcracker ballet. I sincerely hope to have it finished by this December so it will be available in the Boulder Theatre lobby during The Nutcracker ballet!

I owned my dance school, Dance Etc., for 27 years. And during those 27 years I fell in love with hundreds of children who came to me for dance lessons. My mind is full of funny, happy, emotional, sad, but mostly glorious memories from those years. I don’t want all of that to be forgotten, so the Little Haley Stories are my way of preserving those memories.

Our BCBC photographer, Andy Cattoir, took thousands of photos over those years and is letting me use his photos in my books to help support BCBC. Andy’s photos bring my books to life.

All proceeds from The Magic Tutu and Juliana Cuddles go directly to BCBC to help us with our expenses. I’ll have a table in front of the Boulder Theatre over Art in the Park weekend, so please drop by for an autographed copy of Juliana Cuddles.

Before then, please call the BCBC office and I’ll be happy to send a copy to you in the mail. The BCBC office is above the Boulder Theatre and our number is (702) 293-1161.
Thank you in advance for supporting Boulder City Ballet Company. Visit www.missamys.com.



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