Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Story of Broccoli Brian

 
 
 
 
 
                 

     Once upon a time there lived the most amazing dog who we remember in the positive children’s book Broccoli Brian. Here is the background story of how the book came to be written.

     Many years ago, my husband and I got a sweet dog that had been abandoned as a puppy in a field near Atlanta, Georgia. A family had found him and one of the children gave him the name, Brian, after a school friend.  Brian was a lovable dog and also happened to be a huge fan of broccoli. I was a first grade teacher at the time and we thought this would be a fun way to get children to eat broccoli. In the story, Brian and his best friend, Milo (our second dog) are consumed with the daily chase of Fraidy cat (my parents’ persnickety pet).  The story follows the dogs’ constant pursuit of Fraidy and Milo becoming trapped in a mud-filled pig pen. Brian comes to the rescue with his handy pouch of broccoli which gives him amazing strength. We sketched the pictures and an artist created the colorful images. All those years ago, we envisioned a series in which Milo lands in difficult situations and is always rescued by Broccoli Brian. Last year, Brian passed away after sixteen wonderful years with us and Milo also recently died. We planted a tree in our front yard with Brian’s ashes. The book is a testament to our devoted family pets and our love of books.

  The message is one that promotes healthy eating in youngsters and the inspiration for the story is very dear to our family.