Madelyn Digs my Bear!

Creating a book for the world to view is like an elephants long, arduous pregnancy leading up to a successful birth!  The ups were highlighted by finding a publisher who understood my passion, followed by the magical creative process.  Starting with the first storyboards and working our way through several until the final paintings were beautifully created.  The lows haunted me with the initial "No's" from publishers, and then with difficult decisions, conflict among colleagues and the stresses of father time. 

Then, the birth.  The birth made it all worth it.  My beautiful, sweet, (am I bragging?) charming story, anxiously arriving at my door and ready to share with the world.  This was an enthusiastic me when my book shipment arrived:




Then...more hard times.  I have to work my tail off to get my book into stores!  Most all new authors do; I mean, come on- didn't John Grisham start out by selling books out of his trunk?  So, yeah- it's a lot of work- a huge amount of time building a following on my blog, or getting gigs to read my story and do book signings.  It's thrilling and I'm blessed to be able to work for pennies in hopes that one day I'll be working for dollar bills!!  And beyond that, just the passion to share my book with eager children who truly do fall in love with my little bear, Bearful!  He's so cute, I agree! 

Which leads me to the point of this post.  I just got my FIRST piece of fan mail!  A sweet little girl, Madelyn, read my book in her phonology class in Madison, WI!  I have never met this little angel, but I sure hope I can come and read to her class sometime soon.  I picture her sitting with her feet tapping, a little wiggly and having trouble sitting still- and then here comes a book that gets her moving JUST the way she WANTS to be!  Here is what she sent me:



Along with this letter from her teachers:
Dear Anna,
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful book..."Bearful Bear and his new Moves" with our class.  The colorful illustrations captured the children's attention immediately.  The sound play, rhyme and "movement" storyline maintained their interest until the very last page!  The picture is drawn by Madelyn, and depicts her sitting on the rug listening to "Bearful Bear."
With many thanks,
Becky and Lisa and Muir School Phonology Class

SWOON!  How sweet is that?  The labor pains of book writing- the thick and thin, month after month process of creativity, devotion and effort all culminate to not only someone reading your book- but loving your book.  What more could I possibly ask for?  It provides more than a paycheck, more than an adult telling me it's a great story.  The fact is, a 3 year old with no knowledge of me digs my bear.  SWEET!

Love,
Anna