In writing children’s stories, I had to recall times when I was a child. In doing so, I remember fun things like taking family trips, vacations to wherever, and the wonders of our national and local parks. As a cub scout, in my early youth, I became one with nature. The great out-doors was just that…great! I thought of picnics in the park, drinking ever flowing cups of lemonade, and eating baked beans, hamburgers, and hot dogs with lots of mustard and ketchup. Then there were the games you played while the adults prepared the food for fun meals. All kinds of games like, pick up baseball, dodgeball, dancing contest, and of course…tag!
My childhood memories took me back to days at the county fair, and carnivals that would just show up at the right time in the summer. Picture yourself there with me. Enjoy treats with me like double and triple stacked ice cream combs, charros, warm frybread, jellybeans and tons of candy. After eating all these things, no wonder why our parents and older family members could not keep us from being all over the place, just too much sugar! One of my favorites things of all to eat was…cotton candy. I can taste the air-dried sugar and syrup on a paper cone right now. Back then, at these fairs and carnivals, parents, aunts and uncles, could win a prize for you. These prizes they could win were everything from goldfish in a jar to… guess what? Baby turtles in a box. Humm, is there a connection here!
I guess these memories are the magic, from the back of my mind, that helped inspire me to write children’s stories. Its all about sharing the good times and experience of youth. Many children today may not have had these and other such experiences. I recall things that were both fun and funny. Fun things that happened to me, my family, and friends! I incorporated some of these childhood experiences, and those of my family, and friends, into my book, The Adventures of Henry Lee Turtle: Henry Lee Meets Sal Salamander. Henry Lee and I, encourage our readers to enjoy his great adventures through our stories.
