About The Author

A Note from the Author

Thus far I have written seven books for children, plus numerous short stories and poems. My first book was Cuthbert, written in 1954 as an assignment for a children’s literature course, affectionately called Kiddie Lit at Miami University, Oxford Ohio. It was not ‘self published’ however until 2006.

The rest just seemed to flow after I retired from teaching and as (during the last two years) director of Gateway Preschool in 2000.

The characters in my stories are heartfelt, and I try to identify with their feelings, often screwing up my own face to better help me draw that expression. What fun!

Besides Cuthbert, the other books I have written and illustrated are:

“BOO!” (2006) about a ‘critter’ who likes to scare his friends

“Hic Up” (2006) about a dog with hic ups

“Baa and Grub” (2007) about a pig and a sheep

“Pica and Marmot” (2007) about hibernation

“Scruffy” (2008) about a ground squirrel and a coyote

“Bob and Skunk” (2008) about a bobcat and a skunk

Writing animal stories for my own children and later for my grandkids was just plain fun. Whether it was a smiley voice or a gruff one, while reading them aloud, I became each animal. Likewise during my long tenure, be it teacher of preschoolers all the way to sixth graders and older, or later doing bedsides at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital, we laughed and growled our way through delightful animal as well as ‘people’ stories.

And of course in the stories I write, animals in the guise of people come to life, reflecting ‘prickly’ personalities, or caring friends, as in our own living.

So have fun and become in these heartfelt stories.

With much love and affection,

Andie

Editor’s Note: As mentioned above, "Cuthbert" was written and illustrated in 1954. Those were done in black and white, ink on paper. During the lockdown of 2020-21, Andrea went back to those original illustrations and hand colored each one.

What you're about to read is this newly colorized version. ~mjr