Some argue there’s no such thing as a coincidence. When it comes to my children’s books, this is often true. I love to include little details that have meaning in all aspects of the book…from the story itself, to the illustrations, to the design.

I thought it would be fun to share some of those little touches with you. So here goes!

Soaring Soren is the true story of the first French Bulldog to become an agility champion. The book pays tribute to Soren’s incredible real-life story and his logic-defying accomplishments. But it also pays tribute to some very special real-life agility dogs who shared his journey. Almost EVERY dog that appears in Soaring Soren is a real agility dog that competed with Soren. The other dogs belong to the illustrator :)

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The font we chose for the interior text of the 2nd Edition is called Spartan, chosen because the town where Soren lived was called Sparta. And in the scene in the story where Deb is putting Soren in the car to go to their agility trial, his paw is in her hand. This is because the real Soren loved to “hold hands” with me while we were driving in the car, and would relentlessly put his paw on my hand till I took it and held it.

Real Soren loved to “hold hands” on car rides

Finally, the three women at Soren’s party are actually his breeder, Tove Rasmussen, his co-owner, Suzanne Orban-Stagle, and our agility instructor, Barbara Miller—three amazing women and friends who were very much a part of Soren’s journey and successes. The cat is Furby, Soren’s real-life best snuggle buddy. And the two Frenchie pups are Soren’s real-life kids, Audra and Sagan.

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Oy, Elephants! characters, Grandma Gussie and Grandpa Morris, are based on my real grandparents by the same names. Some of the dialogue is actually direct from real conversations (including my favorite line in the story from Grandpa…”We used to have a lot of nice things.”) Also many of the tchotchkes shown in the illustrations are things from their home…like the little brass dinner bell my grandpa used to ring to tell us dinner was ready. In the story, Grandpa Morris makes his famous egg creams, just as real Grandpa Morris used to do for us when we were kids.

The real Grandpa Morris made the world’s best egg creams, much to the delight of all the grandchildren

In the yard there are some Birds of Paradise flowers—those were my grandmother’s favorite and I would often send them to her on special occasions.

Birds of Paradise were real Grandma Gussie’s favorite flower

And whether you liked it or not, if you went to the pool with real Grandma Gussie, you were wearing a sun hat. If you did not have one, one would be provided.

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The main character, Joel, is based on my real cousin, and the elephants, Martha and Lou, were named after my grandmother’s sister and brother-in-law. And their last name, Helfand, is the yiddush word for elephant. Finally, if you look closely, you will find Soren appears twice in the book, once with Deb and once by himself. I’ll let you look :) No hints ;)

The Last Rhino is the story of Ayubu, a baby rhino who must persevere after he loses his family to poachers.

The names of the main characters in The Last Rhino all have significance relative to the story — The names of the main characters in ***The Last Rhino*** all have significance relative to the story

The African name Ayubu, means one who perseveres despite obstacles, and was chosen for that reason. The cattle egret who watches over Ayubu after he loses his mother is named Imari, which means devoted friend. And Ayubu’s mother’s name is Nthanda, which means star. I won’t give away the story for those who haven’t read it yet, but that is a pivotal reference in the book. The font we chose for the book’s title and chapter headings was also significant. It is called Immortal, and we chose it to symbolize our hope for the future survival of the endangered rhinoceros.

An Armadillo on My Pillow, our newest book coming out this February, also has an appearance by Soren. See if you can find it :) The book features over thirty different animals, and the font we chose (not coincidentally) is called Faune.

The font we chose for this story that celebrates over thirty different animals, is appropriately called Faune

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the little touches that add another layer of meaning. I love to include real details in my stories and characters because, in addition to being fun and sometimes sentimental, it adds a certain reality and depth to the story. Real characters, real emotions, real life—it’s what’s at the heart of every good story in one fashion or another.