What do children think when they hear an adult tell them they have a cowlick in their hair, or other, similar expressions? In the opening stanzas of my first picture book, There's a COW Under My Bed! we meet a boy who explores this confusing world of invisible creatures:
My name is Oscar Ollie Brown
And there are things that make me frown
That irk, annoy, and puzzle me
Because - they're things I cannot see!
The first one is especially strange
For cows live on a farm, or range
And yet each night when I'm in bed
One sneaks in here and licks my head!
The idea for this story came some years ago, and, while I wrote the original version then, it was a long time before I polished it and sent it to Tuckamore books, along with some sample illustrations by David Jardine.
Sending artwork isn't generally recommended when submitting picture book stories, but it was the right fit in this case. In the fall of 2007, the publisher offered contracts to both David and I and a little over a month ago There's a COW Under My Bed! hit the bookstores.
I love David's richly coloured, zany illustrations, which can still make me laugh out loud.
If you'd like to hear a short interview with Oscar and I, please visit our Youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_hGC2R5EZ4
We had a lot of fun doing this (and thanks to David for putting it all together!) and hope you'll enjoy watching it. You might need to turn up the volume on your computer.
