I’VE LEARNED THIS LITTLE LESSON
I’VE LEARNED THIS LITTLE LESSON before, and I will probably relearn it many times again. You never know when you write a book, when you share some words and thoughts and feelings, where they will go or who they may touch. Even a humble, silly little book. When I received an email from France, from old friend Doug Cushman—artist and co-creator of my ‘Can’t Do’ books—I was surprised and delighted—for I had not heard from Doug in quite a while. And when I saw that he had written to share an email he had received, I was even more pleased.
For his letter was from a mom and grandma, who had written to say how much ‘What Dads Can’t Do’ had meant to her family when her kids were little, and when I had visited their school. And how much more it had meant when a difficult divorce came to one of her sons. Her question to Doug—that son now has two little girls but the story only had one child—could Doug please draw a little figure or even make a sticker of another dinosaur kid so that both grandchildren could feel included when they read the book.
Wow. I bet he will. And again I am reminded, you never know… Even a silly little book written in a teasing and sarcastic way, about all the things moms and dads ‘can’t do,’ (which they really can, of course, as they love their kids) can have a reach or an impact for beyond what we imagine. What a nice thing to relearn. And I am grateful for it.