Rock Dogs by Sally Barns & Anil Tortop
Published by Affirm Press
Guest author post about Rock Dogs by Sally Barns for Joy in Books at Paperbark Words blog
As much as I would love to be able to tell you that the idea for this story came from somewhere meaningful, I can’t. It wasn’t inspired by a personal story of resilience nor of chasing dreams, but by three rather smelly dogs who sport 80’s inspired hairdo’s and look like they belong in an old school rock band. After listening to them serenade us with their howling, the stanzas slowly started forming. I found myself in giggles – and when I find myself in giggles, I know that I have found my story.
As a parent, my favourite picture books are the ones that I enjoy just as much as my children. Books where we can share a laugh or a heart-warming moment together – like a good family movie. I was thrilled when the first illustrations from Anil come through and she had perfectly balanced the fun for children with a touch of humour for the adult reader. The endpapers are one of my favourite pages – a little something for the older reader to enjoy.
I find writing fun and I think that reading should be fun – especially for children if we want to foster a love of books. When I look at the books that make my kids laugh out loud they are always the ones that make the reader say ridiculous things, or use a funny voice (The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak was a favourite for a long time). I wanted to add the same fun and silliness to Rock Dogs through the vocalisation of the different instruments.
If I was told a few years ago that our trio of dogs would be the inspiration behind a story that would become my debut picture book, I probably would not have believed it.
I hope that this story brings you as many giggles as it did for me when I wrote it. I also hope that when you read it aloud, you embrace the opportunity to be a little silly and unleash your inner rock star.
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