Local doctor releases children’s book, ‘Baby Dog Goes to Washington’

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

While Governor Jim Justice’s beloved English bulldog was reportedly not allowed to accompany Justice on the US Senate floor this week during his orientation to office, she was still making headlines. 

Dr. Sara O’Connor, a Charleston-based ophthalmologist, released her first children’s book entitled, “Baby Dog Goes to Washington.” 

‘A good voice for that message’

O’Connor says that after Justice won the Republican primary for US Senate this past spring, she assumed he would win the general election this fall. 

“I had an idea to write an educational book and give all the proceeds to charity,” she explains. 

“I feel like maybe our education systems aren’t functioning as well as they might, particularly with civics,” she says while taking a walk with her dog, Milo, and talking to RealWV on the phone. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding about how the government works. There are about 100 million Americans that didn’t vote in the last election. We need to start telling kids from the time they’re little how important voting is. I felt like Baby Dog was a good voice for that message.”

The book includes important historical sites in Washington DC, what the three branches of government are, and how it all works. 

“It’s not partisan,” O’Connor says. “There’s no mention of any candidates on the ballot. The main thing is teaching the importance of voting.” 

Baby Dog travels across the nation’s capital, meeting key figures in key places to teach children about governing. 

“I haven’t met Baby Dog,” O’Connor jokes, “but I think kids can understand how important this is through her. She loves her home. She’s going on an adventure in DC!” 

As a way of honoring the book’s namesake, O’Connor says any proceeds from sales will be donated to the Greenbrier County Humane Society. And if the book does well, she will split the proceeds between other charities as well. 

Meet the author

While this is O’Connor’s first foray into writing, she is a longtime community leader in the Mountain State.

“I grew up here,” she says of her history in the state. “I love West Virginia and moved back recently.”

O’Connor began her career as an ophthalmologist, stopped practicing to raise children, taught school for nine years as a science teacher, received a master’s degree in public health, and then went into global eye care.

“We train ophthalmologists who live in the developing world,” she explains. “We have five fellowships in Honduras where we train Hondurans to do high-volume cataract surgery. We equip them with tools and set them up to be great surgeons rather than just going ourselves for a week and doing surgeries.” 

She also works with a related organization that produces educational curricula, training health care workers in other countries to identify and refer folks for eye care. 

Where to buy the book

“Baby Dog Goes to Washington” was printed by Dog Bone Books LLC. It is available online for $19.99 at https://babydoggoestowashington.com/. 

O’Connor is also scheduling visits to read the book to group of children across the state. 

“I’m a mother of two kids,” she says. “I care about West Virginia being a good place for them to live. Hopefully this book helps.”