Another picture book of ours, called SOME DOG! won the vote of 80,000 kids across Missouri and was recently awarded the state’s “Show-Me” book award. The story itself, originated with having a rescue-basset hound of my own. My husband and I were his last hope, we were told by the shelter, before he was to be euthanized. He’d been through four homes already. We said we’d try. That dog wasn’t easy. During his more challenging moments, I tried to think about his positive traits, such as his incredible nose. When he got on a scent, he didn’t let go. And despite his leg-lifting in the house, he possessed the most wonderful, deep howl.
Gradually, his behavior improved, and a story formed about a dog named George (Wa-roooo!), who “smells a thousand scents on the wind” and whose owners call him, “Some Dog!” Life is grand for George, until the day a stray arrives, named Zippity (Ya-yippity-yappity-yeep-yeep-yeep!), who can do everything faster and better--and starts to get all the attention. Vying for attention, of course, is a universal experience. Growing up in a family of ten children; I always had an older sibling who could outshine me.
When the cover art was declared finished for SOME DOG!, I had strong objections. The early version of George was a wider, fatter dog. His
expression left me
feeling nothing. And
that’s what I shared
with my editor and
with Ard. “I need to
have George pull me in. I
need to care.” I didn’t
try to tell Ard how to
do this. That’s his
area of expertise. His
revised and final
version, with George’s soft, yearning eyes, works beautifully.
For the past 30-plus years, my husband and I have lived next to the Canadian border, home to wolves, moose, bear . . . and otters. We love to watch otters swim beyond our dock, wuffing and teasing our dogs. In the winter, they pop up through holes in the ice, munch on fish and crayfish, and then--whoosh--disappear below.
I had the title in mind, Utterly Otterly Day, for
five years--yes, five--before writing the story
of an adventurous Little Otter who thinks “he’s a big otter now. He knows not to stray.” Of
course, the further he gets from his family, the
more adventures and
close calls he has, until
he runs squarely into
a cougar. At the most
frightening moment,
Ard works his magic
by making the scene
humorous, as well. We
see a close of up Little
Otter, eyes wide, with
the cougar reflected in his eyes. It’s the perfect touch of drama and tender sensibility toward younger readers. I didn’t have to suggest this. Ard knew how to handle the scene far better than I could imagine.
My goal as a writer was to write a story where the story’s language would be as play-ful as otters. The text of Utterly Otterly Day is packed with onomatopoeia, alliteration, and rhythmic use of adverbs. At day’s end, Little Otter returns home safely and discovers he “needs family, no matter how big he grows.” And then he dreams of his “whippidy, slippidy, swishily, swashily, dizzily, wizzily, warily, scar-ily, utterly otterly day.” To my satisfaction,
countless teachers
have told me they
now regularly use
Utterly Otterly Day to
teach language arts.
Readers can expect
the same word play
in its sequel, set at
night-time and in
winter, in Utterly
Otterly Night.
"Another picture book of ours called SOME DOG! won the vote of 80,000 kids across Missouri
and......the Show-Me Award."
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