Getting Together to Give Back

The Friendship Alphabet a U-tales collaborators.  Cover illustration by Anders Lindholm.   My"P" page contribution.

Sometimes being a small part of a large effort can be very rewarding. I recently had the opportunity to work with some of the world's most talented writers and illustrators of children's book. It was part of an effort of the gang at U-tales.com. They had the inspiration to join forces to create a book that would teach children the virtues of friendship, through words and pictures. Here was the tricky part, we couldn't use the word friendship in our pages. All of the profits would go to Pencils for Promise, a non-profit that works to provide education for all throughout the world. It happens to be the same charity as authors we can support with a portion of our individual profits from our own books on the U-tales site. 

If you're not familiar, U-tales is a website wholly dedicated to e-books for kids. With a worldwide audience it has a large audience. I was contacted by the group last summer before they launched, with an invitation to be part of the initial effort. I was very honored to be thought of well enough to be invited. By fall I had two e-books published with U-tales, by their launch date. I hope that the world doesn't ever lose our love for physical books, but I can see the writing on the wall. As the next generation learns to read on their parents I-phones, I-pads and Kindles. U-tales is a very loving and high class site to fit that bill perfectly.

My "P" page posted above has an adjoining page that says "The perky puppy and his panda pal, slurp a pot of pasta with the praying mantis, Mr. Chow. " I hope I managed to get the friendship in with all my P's.  Shhh.... don't tell anyone, I did cheat a little, the Chinese symbols watermarked on the drawing are the symbol for friendship.  I was very glad to be able to participate in this worthy project and humbled to be part of such an outstanding community.

If you wish to see the entire book, check it out on U-Tales at  http://utales.com/books/the-friendship-alphabet . While you're there check out my books, especially my new one, "Wiggly Tiggly Tell Me Who". This book was first attempt at a book with sound and animation. It's a new twist on the old pop-up book. By the way, if you have any wee ones in your life, you can gift them a subscription to the site.

For more information on Pencils for Promise, visit their site and read their heartwarming story.  http://www.pencilsofpromise.org/  So go curl up with a good book, be it hardback or virtual and read a good story.