My Favorite Children's Books And A Story Of My Dog And A Piece Of Lettuce

 

Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are

   I started reading when I was very young. And, I really loved the children's books that were coming out at the time or had even been around before my time. I can remember catching the bus, with my brother, to the mall. We'd go to the B. Dalton bookstore where we'd spend hours looking at all the books in the store. I think I was about nine at the time, and my brother was 6 or 7. It was safe to do things like that back then, and we always looked forward to getting on the bus to take us on our journey to the mall where we could let our imaginations run away with us with the help of all those great books and the art on their covers.
   But, our favorite books to look at were the children's books. There was so much to see there in that bookstore, and we were very much inspired by the art for the great children's books that were carried by B. Dalton's. The mall had another bookstore, Walden's, and we loved going there, too. But, B. Dalton's was the best, in our opinion, because we liked the way the store was set up, and it was always so bright in there. It didn't hurt that it was next to Popeye's Chicken where we would always get some tasty chicken either before or after buying our books. We would always split the cost of the books we'd buy, too. It just seemed more fun that way.

In The Dark By Stan And Jan Berenstain

  One of the more fun trips we had taken to the bookstore was when we bought the book In The Dark by The Berenstains. Jan and Stan Berenstain were the authors and illustrators of the great children's book series The Berenstain Bears. My brother and I were big fans of the series, and I still have my personal collection of the books which I still look over from time to time.
  My dad was a big fan of the Disney movies when he was a kid, and he bought many of the Disney books for us as well. And, he even passed on some of his books to us that his mother bought for him as a child. So, we had a wealth of books to keep us busy.
 

Marc Brown's Arthur as he originally appeared.

I also had books that I bought on my own or that were given to me as birthday presents or Christmas gifts. Some of those were Marc Brown's Arthur series, Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are and the Harry The Dirty Dog series by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham, the latter being one of my most favorite book series of all time. I really love the stories and the art. This series greatly inspired me, among other things, to become an artist. And, not just an artist of one type of art but many different types.
   I've been drawing for most of my life, but it wasn't until later on in my adulthood that I decided to write and illustrate my own children's book. And, what better subject than my own dog? Subjects for children's books can be very diverse, and I've come across so many that trying to find a subject within a subject and something different seemed to be somewhat of a task.
   But, it wasn't long until it fell right in my lap. One afternoon, I was preparing things to eat for dinner. And, if you have a dog, you know how they can be when it comes to preparing food. They're right there at your feet waiting for you to share some of the preparations with them. And, if you aren't willing to let your dog eat human food, then they're most likely sitting there hoping something falls on the floor and you don't notice.
   I've always given my dogs table scraps or shared my food with them. I've always found it hard not to, and I've always felt a little guilt when the thought would come to mind that I shouldn't. But, dogs love tasty food just as much as humans, if not more. So, I gave in all of the time and shared my bounty of tasty food with my dogs.

Harry The Dirty Dog

   But, that evening I was preparing a salad to go along with my dinner, and it brought a surprise with it. As I was tossing the salad, a piece of lettuce fell on the floor, and my dog Stuff scooped it up without a thought. I couldn't believe that she did that! I had never seen a dog eat lettuce even when I had given them some of a hamburger with the lettuce on it. They'd usually chew the piece of burger until they had gotten it all down, and somehow, the lettuce, or even the tomato had worked its way out of their mouths and onto the floor.
   Watching my dog Stuff eat that piece of lettuce gave me an idea. The perfect subject for a children's book would be about a dog, my dog, that eats anything.
   I had a lot of fun working on it, but it was great when I was finally able to publish it as an e book on Amazon. I'd love to have it published in paper book form, and maybe that day will come. But, as for now I'm glad Amazon is there, and e book publishing is really the future in publishing, I think.
   I was really inspired by all the children's books I read when I was a kid, and I'm glad I was able to put all that inspiration into my own work. So, thanks to all those great author/illustrators that I grew up with like Marc Brown, Maurice Sendak, Jan and Stan Berenstain and Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham.

Stuff, The Stinker Who Eats Anything

If you'd like a copy of the e book at Amazon, you can get one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQYD4J6

Thanks for reading! :)