This, of course, this is not a girl bird but a boy, a rooster. His name, Hector Louise Juan Jose Miguel Fernando reminds me of my first boy friend. Hi Hector, if you’re reading. This rooster is a minor character in the book ‘Chickens In Birthday Suits‘ which I wrote and painted pictures for.

In a contest you can win a small quilt on which I’ve appliqued the main character, Jillian’s number one best non-human friend, named Twani Alice. See July 14 blog for details.

I’ve noticed that as soon as kids read Chickens In Birthday Suits, as well as my other books, they tell ME stories. Kids of all ages. A little over a week ago my dentist’s eyes lite up and he told me about being young in Russia where his neighbor didn’t take care of his animals so my dentist’s family invite one of the neighbor’s hens to live with them. They referred to the hen as a “he” although “he” would lay eggs regularly. Later when my dentist’s sister wrote about “him” in college her paper was knocked down in grade because “he” was a hen. Where was that teacher’s sense of adventure? When the chicken died at age 16 “he” was stuffed and is still in the parent’s home in Russia.

My dentist’s wife hugs me and calls my Beatrix because the animal pictures reminded her of teaching dance to children in costumes from Beatrix Potter books. She studied dance in Russia along with Baryshnikov, WOW.

I’m so pleased because one of my goals in writing is to encourage story telling, especially from older kids, 13- 90, to younger ones, so I hope my new friends are telling these stories to their children. Let me know if you like the book and enter the contest now.   nancymauerman.com

From the children’s book ‘Chickens In Birthday Suits’