Baby B asks: What about the Toucan King?

When I talked about the men in my life yesterday, I neglected to mention a very special one. The Toucan King himself, Jerry.

I first met Jerry about, gosh, over 10 years ago??? Jerry is a graphic designer and an artist and a mighty fine one to boot. Jerry and I worked together for a few years at the same marketing firm and we hit it off immediately. Jerry and his wife Pam are lovely people and we're sad they moved over the hill. The sea misses them.

And Jerry is silly fun, like me, and he's the king of puns, as is evident in his inner sleeve notes of our book:

I [Toco] met Jery and Kevin at eggs-actly the right time. They were scratching out a living working for chicken feed at a job where their boss watched them like a hawk. After hearing me crow about how I needed somebody to tell my story, they just flew the coop…

After Amy and I saw the first iterations of his toucan artwork, we immediately bought a print from him which hangs in our living room. But what got our joint creative juices flowing was the fact that so many people, young and old, were saying:

"You know, that artwork would make a fine children's book."

You don't say.

That's very interesting.

I'm all ears.

I'm a big believer in synchronicity: lifetime events that seem to be (are) interconnected meaningfully, creating the fabric of our lives before us, our density destiny.

I like my Soul-Singer. And the heartmeld patterns are divine. (Heartmeld is a word I made up in a poem I wrote for Amy many beautiful moons ago.)

My point is that Jerry is a thread in my developing fabric, as I am one in his. And you are. And you are. No, not you. Okay, maybe.

And before Amy and I even conceived rationally of conception, I wrote a children's book with my friend, Jerry. And after we conceived mentally prior to physical conception, I wrote this dedication for future editions of our book/s:

I dedicate this book to our little "B", who we didn't know was meant to be, but always was, who will guide us to and through our "two can be three" paradise.

So wish us luck as we continue to work on greater publishing plans and a Toco the Toucan series!

Baby B's got some reading to do.

Daddy K Keeps on Readin’ and Writin’ (and Truckin’)

It’s a troublesome world. All the people who’re in it
are troubled with troubles almost every minute.
You ought to be thankful, a whole heaping lot,
for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not!

Thank you Dr. Seuss for such insight! I just read Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? the other night to Mama A and Baby B and it was yet another scrumptulescent romp through surreal and silly truisms (sometimes).

Baby B is going to see both the light and darkness of the world soon enough, so it’s up to us to guide (and bob and weave at times). But that’s a blog posting for another time…

In the meantime, I wrote to some of you a little over a month ago that I went down to one of our local used bookstores and picked up three favorite classics of mine: The House on Pooh Corner, Green Eggs and Ham and Go, Dog. Go!

It's been so much fun reading them again!

"I do not like that hat."

"Good-by."

"Good-by."

Crazy fun! Now I have to go back for the Berenstain Bears and Babar and Where the Wild Things Are and The Giving Tree and so many more. And of course I can't forget Toco the Toucan!

Thanks to Heath for loaning us Andrew Henry’s Meadow (makes me wanna build things) and to Amy’s mom for giving us a whole box of old children’s books.

Send me your fave titles,
both old and new,
and I’ll post them in the blog
(and buy some too)!

(Tonight’s posting is a little under the weather, as I’m a lot under the weather. Ack. I feel poopie. But I’ll keep on readin’, writin’ and truckin’. Good night.)