What Inspired Me to Write A Fairy Tale About A Pig...

The inspiration for the book is a true story. However, the lead character, although based on a real runaway pig, is a creation of our imaginations. The other characters, although they reflect the characteristics of real animals and people, are also completely fictitious, as is this pig fairy story.

I decided to share the beginnings of my story with Sheila Graber, thinking the story might entertain her. It did!

Shortly afterwards, Sheila, the illustrator, and I started to collaborate on the project together, just for fun! The story evolved so that the stunning illustrations and the text were inexorably intertwined to make a satisfying, harmonious whole.

Sheila read Luna’s story to her friend’s grandson, Henry, aged six years. He loved the story, and we both decided that a new children’s classic was about to be born!

Literary influences for the story were the timeless tale of “The Three Little Pigs,” by James Halliwell, “The Tale of Pigling Bland,” by Beatrix Potter, Piglet in A.A Milne’s, “Winnie The Pooh,” and Hans Christian Anderson’s, “The Ugly Duckling,” was a strong literary influence, too.

The idea of “Moonwishes Magic,” the fantastic element in our tale, was inspired by the well-known song, “When You Wish Upon A Star,” in the film classic, “Pinnochio,” and this enchanting element makes the book an appealing gift for Christmas, and in fact for any time of year.

The much-lauded book, “Charlotte’s Webb,” by E.B. White, inspired both nature and animal themes in “Luna The Moon Pig.”

A unique combination of Cartoon Graphics, combined with Rotoscoped Illustrations in “Luna The Moon Pig,” designed by Internationally Acclaimed Award-Winning Animator and Illustrator, Sheila Graber, famed for her work with Paddington Bear and family, Children's Television and her animation and illustration of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So" Stories, work very well to make our book an appealing, modern classic for young and old.

Just as E.B. White drew on his own experiences to write “Charlotte’s Web,” I drew on my own real-life experiences with a runaway pig to write the detail of the every day, transforming it into this magical, timeless fairy tale.