Valerie -Welcome to Bookworthy. Today we're talking with poet and children's author Debbie Burton about her early reader series, Tales of Blueberry Street, which follows the lovable adventures of Buddy the Beagle. Welcome to Bookworthy, Debbie.
Debbie - Hi Valerie and hi listeners. I'm happy to be with you today and I love to talk about books as well, especially books about dogs.
Valerie - Now Buddy the Beagle is the main character in your series of books, but he's also inspired by your own dog, correct?
Debbie -Yes, we adopted Buddy when he was one. We got him from a Beagle Rescue. At that time, we learned right away that we needed a dog trainer, and that we needed professional help to deal. We found out why nobody wanted Buddy. And it was because he would do things that were just, you know, very puppyish. He would jump up on the bed. He would jump on the table. He would get on the table and eat things if you left them there, like popcorn or whatever. He loved to chew on books and pens. So, you know, Buddy the Beagle on Blueberry Street tells of what happened when we first adopted him and how he felt like he didn't need people. And then something happened that showed him he really needed people.
Valerie- Can I go on to tell you more about the story or, before we talk more about the books, could you tell us just one silly story about Buddy?
Debbie -Silly story. Okay. He, 's very afraid of fireworks, like a lot of dogs. And, one time, in our neighborhood, you know, as usual, people were out on New Year's Eve, setting off fireworks. And, what, what happened was he got so, he kept pulling on the leash and he actually broke off the leash and just started running And even though my husband is a marathon runner, he had a very hard time catching up with Buddy. But the thing about Buddy is he loves to eat. And so Herb was able to get close enough to him, you know, to offer him a treat and then he could grab him and snatch him back. So, if anybody has a beagle, they know how they love to eat. They'll do anything to treat you.
Valerie - So Buddy's more of a sprinter whereas your husband is more of a marathon runner, huh? Those are two completely different styles of running. I have a kiddo in cross country and so it's interesting to watch, especially watching the Olympics this last year, just the different styles of running and having to pace yourself and, you know, having to run full out, full bore. Well, tell us what inspired you to take this fun, lovable character you adopted into your home and turn it into a book series.
Debbie -Well, I'm a retired elementary teacher and when I retired, I just started looking around for something to do and a friend of mine said, you should only pursue one thing. I don't know why he said that, but I started thinking about it and I thought, well, I'm going to start by exploring my gifts. And I joined a book study called The Creative Call, which was written by Janice Elsheimer. It's an excellent book for Christians to look at and seek God about what their purpose is. And since I wasn't teaching anymore, I thought I'd got to find a new purpose. So I discovered that I like to write, and I like to write poetry in particular. And so originally this book was going to be a rhyming picture book. But then I found out that there wasn't a market at the time for it. I went to a conference, I pitched it to some editors and they said, no, can you turn it into, can you turn it into a chapter book? And I had very little experience with writing. I liked to read, but I wasn't very experienced. So I just started writing. It was very easy to do because it's so much based on what happened in our lives. And that's how I got started.
Valerie - What they say, write what you know, and when you have a puppy giving you all kinds of material, it becomes a little easier, right? So fun. Well, in these stories, you have Buddy kind of not wanting to be with a person and discovering he has a need and just kind of through all of his adventures, what's kind of the overall message you hope to communicate with kids through each of these books?
Debbie -Through the first book, the message is perseverance. Buddy has a physical difficulty. The main pivot point of the book is when he jumps off the bed and he injures himself. And his owners, who I name Henry and Jen, have to decide if they're going to go through all that they need to do to take care of Buddy after his injury. So It's just a beautiful story about caring for animals. You know, when people adopt a pet, some things can happen and they're expensive things. And you have to make a decision. Am I really going to do whatever it takes to take care of this pet? And I'm all about, if you can afford it, do it because the rewards are great. But he's still with us. He's actually 14 now. But after that, I just, got him doing cute things. The second book is a mystery. It tells the story of somebody stealing his dog treats. It's called Return to
Blueberry Street. Somebody steals his treats, and he tries to get all of his little doggy friends, which brings in other dogs to this story. And they're trying to track down the bandit of Blueberry Street. So that's what that book is about. So the emphasis is on problem solving in this book and working as a team to try to solve the problem. And then after that, I started to wonder what it would be like if we had two dogs. So I got, started learning about Australian cattle dogs. I read a lot about them, and they are really interesting animals. They are used to herd cattle, of course. And so this dog was just homeless. Somebody decided just to drop him off at the side of the road. He wanders up to the family's porch and the family brings him in temporarily thinking they're going to find him a home while nobody wants him. And Buddy tries to teach him the rules, but he won't listen. He's got a mind of his own. So this book brings out the kind of dog that does not do well in a city environment, which is where Buddy lives. So anyway, it's a story of friendship.
Valerie -Very neat. I love how each of those books, the main character is Buddy the dog. They're very applicable to children to kind of see, like you said, accepting help being, you know, recognizing that we need each other to take you to help us through hard times and friendship and problem-solving. I love how kids somehow can relate more to an animal protagonist than they can to a human protagonist because they can see the world a little bit easier through a dog's eyes. So very fun. Now, did you always want to be an author?
Debbie - No, I never wanted to be an author. I mean, no, I wanted to help people. I mean, my goal was to be helpful. I was a social worker originally. Then after I got married, and had children, I decided, well, I think I'm going to teaching because that gave me summers off. But also I wanted to have an impact on children. I thought if there's any hope for the world, it's coming from our kids. So I love to teach, I love to read to the kids. And I would, you know, one of my favorite children's books is Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing I love to laugh with kids. And so really all three of these books are funny. They have a lot of funny lines in them that I think families will enjoy.
Valerie - That's great. I love how humor almost solidifies those hard parts a little bit easier, especially in a kid's book. If we can laugh about it, we can just let it sit in our hearts a little bit more. And so I love that when authors bring humor in, really brings joy, even more joy than just reading. I know I have three boys so if we can laugh and enjoy something together it's going to be not just a book we love, it's going to be a book we learn from and a book that we can read again and again. So that's a lot of fun. Now, let's see, what is the most impactful book in your life, You mentioned a couple already but Other than the Bible. You can't pick the Bible. That's a given.
Debbie -That's a hard question. I thought about that, I read a book recently. Now, this is not a kid's book. Is a, well, I guess, you know, this book would be for possibly high school age. A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith, if you've ever heard of it. I'm from Florida and this book describes the rustic Florida when it was a frontier. And that's a lot, that's very hard for people to understand now because the whole state is covered with cement practically. But it talks about these three generations of family and how the hardships they faced on the frontier. And eventually, as time went on, I mean, it's historical fiction. They rise to be real estate tycoons, like the third generation. And it just makes you think about the struggle that a lot of pioneers went through to develop the land.
Valerie -That is very interesting. Know I'm in Texas and somehow Texas you kind of assume we're still in those rustic, cattle-driving days. That's just the persona or stereotype that's around Texas, but it is interesting to think what would Florida have been like. You know, in the frontier days, because it, I mean, it was an undiscovered country. It wasn't part of the original 13 colonies. I mean, there was a lot of interesting land to deal with and crocodiles and all those things. And so that sounds like a very interesting read. Very cool. Makes you see your home state in a new way, right? Very neat. Now, You mentioned the tale of the fourth-grade nothing, but what is another favorite children's book other than your own?
Debbie - A children's book. Well, because I like rhyming anything, Dr. Seuss. I guess I got started on a Dr. Seuss thing. But I guess my favorite Dr. Seuss story is the pants with nobody inside them. And it's just a crazy story. And the illustrations are wonderful because it shows this pair of pants and the pants are riding a bike and the pants are doing all kinds of things so the pants become a character. So I like books that the characters are not what you would expect them to be, you know. And I just thought that was one of the most creative things that he ever did.
Valerie-Yeah, Dr. Seuss had a unique take on the world, didn't he? I don't think he ever really grew up. I think he was a kid at heart his whole life, for sure. I think one of our favorites is, there's a locket in my pocket. So, it's all kinds of crazy rhymes and my kids absolutely love that one. Think That book fell apart by the third kid, but it's still a favorite. Well, Debbie, what can we expect next from you?
Debbie -I'm working on a rhyming picture book. You know, that's what I'd love to do. But it's called Manatee School and I'm hoping to finish it soon. It is a story about a grandfather and his granddaughter who go out in a canoe in one of the springs of Florida and they teach the Manatees how to stay safe. And so it is a book about, it's an entertaining book because it's fun to read. Anything rhyming is fun to read. But also it's going to teach some important facts about manatees and just some, you know, their characteristics, but also the dangers that they're up against, but tenderly, you know to just try to inspire care for these beautiful animals.
Valerie -Now, you have, have you seen a lot of manatees in your time in Florida?
Debbie - yeah, and it was inspired by going to Blue Springs State Park, and in January when it gets cold, really cold in Florida, hey it might get down to the 50s. When it gets in the 50s when you have cold nights in the 50s or the 40s, the manatees need to stay warm and so they come to the natural springs.
Valerie -Like 85 degrees, right?
Debbie -And it's just remarkable to me how they know, hey, it's time to go. And they go in these springs and they hang out in there until it gets warm enough for them to come out and look for food. So when I went there, there was actually a group of people that saved the manatee club. And there was a guy that worked with them and he would go down in the springs and count all the manatees. And sometimes there'd be as many as 400, you know, and I can't believe how he could tell one from another, but somehow anyway, so that's what made me think about the story. But I wanted to put, you know, a grandfather and the child together in it. I thought it would be kind of a generational teaching thing.
Valerie -I love that. I love not just the relationship between a granddaughter and her grandfather, but our relationship with nature and just the impact that we have on the world around us and all those sweet messages that could come through a book like that. Now Debbie, where can people find out more about you and your books?
Debbie -On my website, Debbie Burton blog, I say, I post things on there all the time. I've written about all of our trips with Buddy to state parks in Florida. If anybody's ever going to visit Florida and they want to go to a state park, I've written about national parks that we visited as a family and poetry that I've written. I just put a hodgepodge of things on there, but it's interesting reading.
Valerie - It's a lot of fun. Got a chance to read through some of it and it's a fun perspective on following Buddy around all the state parks and all the fun things you guys have been able to see. So, it's an enjoyable read for sure. Well, Debbie, thank you for joining us today.
Debbie -You're welcome, it's been a pleasure.
Valerie -And thank you for joining Debbie and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Check the show notes for any books or links that we discussed and let us know in the comments a silly story about your pet or pets. Be sure to like and subscribe so we can discover more great books together.
Happy reading!
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