Mia told me the other day that she wants to make a book when she gets older.
She didn’t say what kind of book, and she didn’t explain whether she wants to write the book or just make it, perhaps as a printer, or a binder. Or maybe she said she wanted to be a bookmaker, the kind that takes bets and breaks legs, but I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I heard her right. “When I get older, I want to make a book.”
And then, by the time she was just about a half-hour older, she’d made good on her ambition. While I was scowling at a sudoku on the balcony in the 70-degree sun, Mia sat next to me and wrote, illustrated, bound, and, yes, made a book. Then she gave it to me. And now I’m going to give it to you.
It’s called “The Cat Who Visited the Land of Candy with the Carnival and the Big Show with the Nutcracker and the Ballerinas. And the Mermaid Stage.”
Here it is. The whole thing. Copyright belongs to Mia, 2007. Enjoy.
Page one, drawn by her, annotated by me:
Page two. Note the cat’s lovely home. Recognize that stairwell on the side of the house? That’s because you saw it on page one, in the long-shot. See that? Continuity.
“Once upon a time there was a cat. And the cat went to carnivals and to shows before he even had breakfast. Because his breakfast was at the carnival. And besides, the carnival was where he got his breakfast.”
Page three. Drawn by Max, then incorporated into the story by Mia. Kind of like how Tom Hatten used to make Popeye characters out of doodles.
“The kitty looked on the map and this is what he saw. All the paths and rivers right in his town.”
Page four. All grammatical errors are deliberate. Mia is playing with the language.
“The cat came to a train station and the train was already gone. So he decided to wait for another train. He knew the train was not too long for him. Because he had ride in this train.”
Page five. The elephant is named for his habit of spraying water from his trunk.
“All the cat’s friends were on the train: Amy, the hippo, and Sleepy the giraffe, and Goldilocks, and Water, the elephant. And the train was just about at the carnival. And then, at the carnival, there was lots of things to do, but they just had to wait, because they had to wait for all the kitty’s friends.”
Page six.
“The train went super fast, and it was so fun for all the kitty’s friends and the kitty. And they could see the smoke from the train behind them out the window.”
Page seven.
“At the carnival they had a very fun time. They ate ice cream cones and candy. And cotton candy. And chips. And went on rides. And buyed stuff.”
Page eight. Evening descends.
And that’s it. I think the mermaid stage plays a bigger role in the sequel. In any case, preorders should be up at Amazon any day now.
I’ll keep you posted.
