Splotch, An Alice and Friends Book
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Hi, everyone!
Today, we have a couple that co-author children’s books, Kenneth and Anne Rothman-Hicks. Kenneth, please tell us what inspired your latest book, Sploth, ….
An idea for a book can come from almost anywhere at any hour of the day or night. Once, we were walking down the street in our hometown, New York City, when we saw a stain on the sidewalk that looked like a dog. Here is a picture of it.
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The image seemed so real, we wondered what might happen if it suddenly came to life?
We had already written two books about a young girl named Alice, who also lives in New York City. After seeing that splotch of paint, we began to think of ways that she might interact with a picture of a dog. Maybe, we thought, she might want a real dog, but her mother and father won’t let her have one. The Alice from our prior two books is not the type of girl who gives up easily. She has an idea. She will upload a picture of the dog on her computer and, on her social media account, she will pretend that she is taking care of her “virtual pet” and will post about taking her dog out for walks, feeding him, bathing him, and doing all the things that a dedicated pet owner does. She is sure that she will soon become an internet sensation, and her parents will be embarrassed into buying her a real dog.
Of course, this is not the way things worked out for Alice in the story. Splotch, as she calls her dog, comes to life and begins to act as her personal guard dog. This causes lots of trouble at school and with Alice’s friends when Splotch starts taking nips at whomever he thinks is mean to Alice. Finally, Alice has to figure out how to get Splotch back in the computer and out of her life!
[image error]Available on Amazon
Also, in the Alice series are Stone Faces and Brownstone Faces. Like Splotch, both books were inspired by things that we saw as we walked together. We’ll tell you all about them on another day.
Anne Rothman-Hicks is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College where, in 1969, at a college dance, she met a student from Haverford named Kenneth Hicks. They have been together pretty much ever since, getting married, having children, writing books, making art, and generally conspiring to live lives that are happy, creative, and good.
Anne and Ken’s most recent novels and stories are set in New York City, where they have lived for most of their married lives.
Their middle reader series, Alice and Friends, features Alice, a 10-year-old girl with a vivid imagination that gets her into and out of trouble. The titles are, STONE FACES, BROWNSTONE FACES, and SPLOTCH.
In Ken and Anne’s tween book, THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM, Jennifer and James find a pigeon in Central Park whose foot was caught in a bit of string attached to a fence. Only this pigeon was actually a man before he was turned into a pigeon over a hundred years earlier. Now he needs some help to be turned back into a man before a certain hawk captures and eats him instead.
A sequel, REMEMBERING THOMAS, will be published by MuseItUp Publishing in March of 2018.
Connect with Kenneth and Ann on these links
Ken and Anne’s blog: www.randh71productions.com/blog
Ken and Anne’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Kenneth-Hicks-and-Anne-Rothman-Hicks-622272714477979
Purchase their books here:
Buy links for Brownstone Faces:
Muse: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/now-available-in-ebook/brownstone-faces-detail
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brownstone-Faces-Alice-Friends-Book-ebook/dp/B01MT6HM7V
Buy links for Stone Faces:
Thank you, Kenneth, for sharing about Splotch, what a cute idea for a book! And I love the New York City inspirations behind all of your books.
