Can Long-Standing Dear Adult Friendships Be the Basis of a Children’s Story?

Yes! That is the basis of my story Happy Cat and Merry Cat. I met my dear friend Kathy years ago when we both were starting out in a new subdivision raising our kids. Our children would play together in the backyard. Given we were both teachers we would chat about education and loved engaging our children in a variety of creative activities. We also enjoyed many walks, talks, and parties. A gal who loves cats, Kathy is full of laughter, song, and joy. She also is exceptionally musical as a proficient piano player and choir member. Together we would don costumes to entertain at Halloween and for community events. About 20 years ago on one of her birthdays, I presented her with a superhero cape (plus bra) and declared that my new nickname for her was Happy Cat.

Both of us particularly enjoyed stealing away to enjoy tea and sandwiches on a weekend afternoon. During our tea times, we would often dream of running a tea shop. Kathy retired and would tease me that she was waiting for me to retire so we could open our tea shop. As I approached retirement, thinking of Happy Cat and our tearoom dreams, I birthed Happy Cat and Merry Cat (Mary Catherine). I imagined what we would be like as kids. In addition, I wondered to what length would we go to have high tea.

Again, like many of my other stories I wanted to include rhyming couplets. In this story, I tried to capture those things that we enjoyed together as adults as they might present if we were best buddies growing up. The story was intended to embrace the persistence and ingenuity of children in working towards a goal, regardless of the adult parameters or rules. Ultimately though in the interest of a teachable reminder, the parents triumph finding the girls and reminding them of the lesson to ask for permission before heading out.

This was my third collaboration with Keith Cains. Typically, I hand the story over to Keith, honouring his artistic expertise and interpretation. This collaboration was probably the most challenging for Keith as he didn’t have prior watercolours or sketches to pull from. As a result, we engaged in a few conversations as to illustration options which led us to the idea of featuring silhouettes. Given that shadow depictions are reflective of a historical art form they dovetailed nicely with the theme of traditional high tea. Once completed, Tresita, the graphic designer who assembled our story, did a fabulous job adding to that traditional ‘old fashion’ stylising of the book. The silhouettes offered another art teachable moment for any adult reading the story to children.

After socializing in a group of adults I’ve heard people ask, “I wonder what that person might have been like as a child or what they would have been like in the classroom.” Sometimes it’s fun to speculate what we would have done in a circumstance as a child or how we might have interacted with our adult friends when we were kids. Some of us are lucky enough to still be socializing with some of our childhood friends. These memories and/or speculations on what might have happened can be great inspiration for writing a children’s story. Furthermore, they can celebrate some of the endearing qualities of your friends that have stood the test of time. Do you have a Happy Cat in your life who might inspire a story?