When you pick up a children’s picture book and open its pages, both you and the children you read it to are easily inspired. For you – it’s escaping reality for a few minutes. For the children – it’s a wonderful time for fun, learning, and entertainment. And you can’t help but adore those colorful illustrations throughout the book!

Children’s book author and illustrator Mercer Mayer says, “It’s kind of like a big imagination trip.” Mayer also explains that writing a children’s book is actually not an easy process and I definitely agree with him! “It’s very difficult because it’s so simple,” Mayer said. As for Kobee Manatee, I kept editing down the words to make the story as simple as possible. And yes, for this first book in the series, it was a very time consuming process. However, in the end when you see all the children smiling at you, it’s well worth the effort!

~ Robert Scott Thayer