(Continued from part 1)

How does a children’s book writer responsibly approach a subject that has tricky connotations? It does require imagination. My paring of Molly the cow with Molly Brown (aka Margaret Tobin Brown of Titanic fame) raised some eyebrows from people in the industry. One agent told me she couldn’t see the value of my approach. But my defense is - while unique, I wasn’t concentrating on the comparison of a human and a bovine – I was focusing on the experience these two females shared – nearly drowning and surviving – a sisterhood of conquering adversity.

The birth of a picture book can take years, endless quantities of patience, and the kind of creativity that doesn’t blush – THE MOLLYS B. is a perfect example. The incident that sparked my getting this story down on paper was 18 years in the making. When asked what inspired me, I immediately think about Molly the cow’s spirit and gumption, which is uncannily similar to the “Molly” she was named after – Margaret Tobin Brown of Titanic fame.