My 5-year-old son, Michael, woke up one morning about a year ago, hugged me, and said, “Mom, I really want people to read the book we wrote.”
We had just finished “Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence,” which we wrote to help us overcome grief over our dog’s sudden death.
My son’s heartfelt request kindled in me a desire to make Michael’s longing a reality.
However, I never expected Michael to embrace this project with such enthusiasm–and declare, just recently, that he wants to be a writer when he grows up.
For me, this project is all about following Michael’s passions. I don’t want him to feel forced to participate. If an author wants Michael to review a book on the YouTube channel where he talks about kidlit, I don’t insist. I give him the book and ask if he wants to review it.
If I have a lesson lined up with a classroom—to talk about our experiences writing our book—I ask Michael if he wants to participate. If the answer is no (rarely, because he loves talking to kids about books), he doesn’t participate.
We’re now writing our second book, tentatively titled “Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy,” and I have been amazed and thrilled by how much my son wants to contribute to the book.
Michael, who just turned 6, enthusiastically came up with the ideas for the conflict and plot. I don’t want to give too much away, but I loved his ideas for creating unusual situations in which our main character, Bash, would be jealous!
The easy part of writing a book is actually putting words on paper. Next comes the promotion and publicity. Having a young co-author has added excitement, unpredictability and adventure to this process.
For example, when the crew of the Today Show filmed a segment here in Portland about Michael, I wasn’t sure how much Michael would cooperate. It’s fair to say that after a few hours, he was ready to go play with his friends, and I was sweating bullets, hoping that our visitors would get what they needed from him.
However, thanks to the talents of the Today Show reporter, producers, and crew, the end result was this adorable piece, a piece I’ll treasure forever—about Michael’s love of books and YouTube book reviews:
Book-Crazy Boy on the Today Show
Of course, that was an edited piece. What happened when I appeared live on TV with my 5-year-old? I really was sweating with apprehension about what my sometimes mischievous son would do!
When we were recently interviewed live by Helen Raptis for AM Northwest, Michael yanked off the microphone as soon as he entered the TV studio. He then became entranced by our images on the TV monitor. This was the result:
Even though Michael didn’t cooperate, I’ll treasure that piece forever!
Our other public appearances generally involve talking to students—either in person, here in Portland, or via Skype in the Classroom. Again, having Michael along adds energy and excitement. Sometimes, he’s mischievous, as he was when I asked him to show the students a photo of his 15-year-old sister, our favorite editor and biggest supporter:
But mostly, he shares his love of books, a love we hope is contagious:
Our efforts to share Michael’s enthusiasm for books—and dogs–continue as we prepare our next book, “Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy,” which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Follow us on twitter for updates: Bash and Lucy on Twitter or visit us at BashAndLucy.com
And email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com with questions, comments or ideas!