When I was a child, my aunt Josie had a book made that featured myself and my cousin David. I thought it was so cool, reading about our day of chasing foxes or whatever we were doing in the adventure. A few months ago I thought of that book and then found myself thinking – why not make a book like that? And not just substitute personal names into a generic story like the one about me and David, but actually make the entire book custom? I am, after all, a book designer … This would be fun!
Jeff and I sat down and wrote the book together. He was great at coming up with the story line, and I did the dialogue.
The hardest part about this project was not mentioning it to anyone in my family! Cai and Sadie are too young to read or understand what’s going on yet, and Mia was too excited about her other gifts to pay super-close attention (which I totally expected), but all of the adults really liked the book! I can’t wait for all of them to grow into the book, and I hope they look back on the story with the same fondness I do when thinking of the book Josie got for me.
And now I present to you: Turtles Don’t Talk.
(Above is the cover)
(Mia’s room has stripes on the bottom of the wall, like shown above)
(Snakes are notorious for showing up at my grandmother’s lake place …)
(Spike the turtle is my pet Red Eared Slider turtle.
Pops’ office belonged to my grandfather, Pops, and yes, it has wood paneling.)
(There used to be a wooden raft out on the lake – for years it was anchored there and we’d dive off of it and such.)
(The porch swing near the lake is one of the favorite spots for everyone on the property.)
(As is the bridge, which was painted blue when I was a child.)
(The stove above is very similar to the stove in Great Mia’s house)
So, there you have it! One of my favorite gifts that I created …
