The Story Behind My New Picture Book

Who IS Lamby Lambpants? Why Does He Wear Pants? These questions and more are answered in my latest picture book for early readers, The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants, now available on Amazon.com and through Love & Fleece’s website. I can’t believe I created Lamby almost eight years ago. In the time since, I’ve been exploring who this strange little character is and what makes him so endearing. As I delved deeper into his quirky world (some of which you can find at www.lambpants.com), Lamby started telling me his stories in his unique voice. I’ve only just started to write them all down.

Taking Lamby’s World To The Next Level

It wasn’t until a screenwriter’s agent challenged me about four years ago to take Lamby’s world to the next level that I really delved into the development of this character. While we’ve since parted ways, the challenge pushed me to continue to turn Lamby’s playful, imaginative world to what it’s become today. I surrounded Lamby with a group of lovable disabled misfits, some real (well as “real” as a Chinese puppy dragon can be) and some that were brought to life (like Lamby’s toy friend Snout and his foe Dr. Nub whom you’ll meet in another story).

I fell in love with the idea of a patchwork family of wounded little magical beings striving to overcome fears, prejudices and doubts BECAUSE of their physical or emotional disabilities. Everyone in Lamby's world is damaged or broken in some way, and they learn to trust and support one another as they become better souls. I mean, that's the large hidden part of the iceberg; the stuff ABOVE surface is just A LOT of silly, sweet and funny goings-on. I do my best not to hit readers over the head with obvious messages about one thing or another. The messages are there because of the story and not the other way around. Kids are much smarter than that.

The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants is the first, more or less, in the Lamby Lambpants world. I've known Lamby's history for so long that I had trouble crafting a story that felt real. Yes, The Incredible Flying Jonesy, which happened to be published first, is technically a follow-up to the story of Lamby's first pair of pants, but each story can stand perfectly on its own. Think about each person's life as a long series of stories. We mostly come in and out of each other's “stories” in the middle places and then play catch up to understand what’s going on. And then we can decide whether to stay or find someone else’s story.

I think what I would like readers to take away from my stories the most is that life is fun and magical when you surround yourself with the right people. That you are NEVER as broken as you think you are. And that finding the courage to be yourself comes when you honestly accept your flaws and imperfections without shame. These may seem like mature concepts, but in this day and age of rampant bullying (online and in person), we have to teach these lessons to our young ones at even earlier ages.

If these basic lessons resonate with values you want to instill in your children, then pick up a copy of the The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants today. And stay tuned for the audio book, which will be available on iTunes, Amazon and Audible in the next couple of weeks (just waiting on approval from the powers that be).

The Amazing (and Mostly True) Story of How Lamby Got His Pants: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure

The Incredible Flying Jonesy: A Lamby Lambpants Adventure