I Wrote a Children’s Book Series
I camp, travel, and hike solo often, and my old-soul dog, Professor Huckleberry, is always close behind. He’s a gentle giant and fan favorite with the kiddos, weighing in at 110-pounds of yellow-lab friendliness and Anatolian shepherd calmness. He’s a guardian, a roamer, a sniffer, an expert napper. Huck prefers sleeping by the river to chasing after critters, he prefers slow walks to playing fetch. Huck will watch an energetic dog play fetch at a dog park and give you a look that says, ‘Get a load of this dog. How naive. They’re just gonna throw it again. Ah, the youths these days’.
After a 6 week road trip between the Dakotas and the Pacific Coast, I wanted to share my journey. I’m a web and graphic designer, and have worked in some form of storytelling or youth volunteering for almost a decade. With all the photos and journal entries and amazing facts about the lands Huck and I trekked, it felt appropriate that Huck should be the narrator of our journey, with me as the ‘adult’ caretaker side character.
The books feature Huck as the narrator as we set up the trip: camping gear lists, camp / outdoor safety tips, maps of the journey and high-level explanation of the region. It is then broken into sections of each state, with a page or two dedicated to each of that state’s major points of interest. Kids can view photos of me or Huck at a national park or monument, or cartoons of dogs telling fun facts about presidents, natives, fossils, outlaws, and natural sciences. Think: Clifford the Big Red Dog, but focused on American history and natural sciences.
That vision grew into a children’s book series. The Adventures of Miss Leigh + Professor Huckleberry now has a book on the Dakotas, the Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest. I wrote and designed them as a goal this summer, and while the Rockies and PNW are still in draft, I have submitted the Dakotas to multiple publishers while I begin to craft a social media or YouTube channel to expand the world for the kids. The vision grew into merch, future book / travel plans, and hopes that Dolly Parton would feature it in her children’s book program or Sam Elliot would be cast as the voice for Professor Huckleberry in a TV adaptation with Discovery Kids. (Please note: none of the books are published at time of writing. This is just where my creative ego took the delusion. Welcome to Delulu Land, all are welcome).
I didn’t do this alone. I lived, wrote, and designed the story, but I used the Great Falls Public Library to research existing children’s books to check out the competition’s artwork and storylines as well as the possible publisher’s to whom I could submit my work. Once I felt good about the research and made modifications, I took the draft to Great Falls Public Schools and asked elementary teachers to read over it. The educators appreciated the book because they could make lesson plans from the content. I asked a homeschool mother for her feedback. I also asked mothers of children aged 3-6 to read the draft to their kids. One reader spent all of that night’s dinner telling his dad that 600 species of dinosaur were found in the Dakotas, and that he has BIG plans to see them. And now his parents are planning a Dakotas / national parks trip for next summer.
The Adventures of Miss Leigh + Professor Huckleberry is intended to make all folks smile, and to help kids learn about America in an introductory way. At time of writing, I submitted the drafts to potential publishers last week, so it’s still early. I hope to educate and empower America’s little ones to be excited about our national parks and history, to want to see our beautiful and unique landscapes, and to feel like real explorers by including packing lists and safety guidelines. And of course, selfishly, for everyone to love my dog almost as much as I do.
Please reach out to me if you want to sponsor or assist us in our journey!
