🐾 Christine Devane: Raising Kinder Kids Through Stories

Markj (: 00:00

Hi, Christine Devane, how are you?

Christine (: 00:02

I'm good. How are you?

Markj (: 00:04

I'm good. It's great to see you again.

Christine (: 00:06

I know it's nice to see you too.

Markj (: 00:09

Thanks. It's been a long road getting here. In fact, just the last half hour. For technical problems.

Christine (: 00:14

Yes.

There's been a few bumps in the row, but we made it.

Markj (: 00:18

We made it. We made it.

I'm

Christine (: 00:20

Yeah.

Markj (: 00:20

happy to see you and so happy to have you back. Thanks for coming back I'm excited to talk to you I mean literally it's been less than a year and you've already had you have two other books since the one that we talked about. You

Christine (: 00:31

Been busy.

Markj (: 00:32

are busy and You're getting around to read the stories and present and travel around too, right? So you're very busy.

that's really great. What's it been like? Has it been a whirlwind for you or has it been something that you're able to kinda manage, okay?

Christine (: 00:47

It's been a whirlwind. It's been very busy and it's also trial and error because some events obviously are better than others. And I've just been putting it out there as much as I can, seeing where I get responses from. But a lot of the parents really like the books and a lot of the kids really like the books. So I like it when I'm able to connect with kids and families and really see them enjoy the book.

Markj (: 01:15

Yeah, I wanna get into that, but there's several things I wanna talk about before that. And first off is how's Tippi? How's your dog?

Christine (: 01:22

Poor Tippi, he's good. So

Markj (: 01:24

Yeah.

Christine (: 01:25

he is waiting for surgery. Tippy has

a little bit of a story. So I had a book event, and at the book event, I wanted adoptable dogs there. And I wanted to be able to help people be in contact with the dog. So Paws New England brought a few dogs and there was Tippi was there. And when I went to read the story, he sat on my lap and he was so sweet.

And he had a little bit of a limp. And I went home and I said, I really love the dog. And I hope he gets adopted. And there was a puppy there. I knew the puppy would get adopted. Everybody loves puppies. Puppy's not gonna have any issues. And so a week went by and I was in contact with the foster mom. And I said, You know, has anybody applied for Tippy? And she said, No. nobody's applied for Tippy. So my husband

was laughing because I out of the blue I said, I need that dog. And he said, What are you talking about? We have a dog. And I said, I know, I just something makes me feel so bad for him. He has a limp. I don't think anybody's gonna want him. And so my husband's very nice and he knows that once I get something in my head, it's I have to go along with it. And I said, I just felt a connection with the dog and he he has a sad story. So

He

had an owner. The owner died. The family didn't want him and they left him tied outside. So he was pulling on his neck and a neighbor found him and called animal control and the rescue saved him. So my husband was like, if you really want tippy, we'll get tippy. So we got him, not knowing how severe his medical issues really are. And I took him to

A vet, then they wanted an MRI, and they realized he has, which is crazy, a separation between the vertebrae and his spine. So he's at risk of being paralyzed if he gets into any sort of accident. So he has

Markj (: 03:28

Yeah.

Christine (: 03:29

a neck brace on and he needs a very complicated surgery. I called around to a lot of different vets, and right now they're actually making a

Implant in Poland that is gonna go in his neck to put fuse the bones

Markj (: 03:45

That's

Christine (: 03:47

together. The surgeon is amazing, they use all sorts of high tech things, so it's what they use on humans now. So Tippy

Markj (: 03:55

Mm-hmm.

Christine (: 03:56

will be much better. Hopefully he won't be limping. But when we adopted the dog, I I did not know how severe his issues were, but he's so happy. So I'm

Markj (: 04:07

Yeah.

Christine (: 04:08

very happy he has a nice home.

We're able to help him and hopefully that everything goes well with his surgery and he's just a sweet little dog. I know and I

Markj (: 04:19

That's wonderful. Well he's found the perfect mom. Only kid.

Christine (: 04:24

honestly I just I could never imagine that his issues were so severe. The vet even said, We don't even know how this dog is walking because when they did the MRI, his spine is curved and the bones aren't even connected. So they're gonna go in and

fix everything, fix him up. but he's he's very happy, he's very sweet. He's a good dog.

Markj (: 04:46

Yeah.

Christine (: 04:47

And luckily we found an amazing vet that does wonderful surgeries at tofs. I can't say enough great things about him. So I'm excited for him to get the surgery and for him to hopefully not be in pain because they said he's been in chronic pain just walking around. You would never know he's so happy.

Markj (: 05:08

Well that's the thing with dogs. They always seem to smile anyway. they

Christine (: 05:12

I know.

Markj (: 05:12

always look like they're smiling and happy. Well, I mean, you must love him because that can't be

Christine (: 05:17

Yeah.

Markj (: 05:18

an inexpensive journey with him too right now. Surgery's gotta be pretty intense as far as the experience and the and the costs and all that stuff like that. So, he's a really, really lucky dog and it's gonna be even better. And my question is, so has he is he inspiring a new story for you?

Before we even talk

about the other ones.

Christine (: 05:35

Actually, it's

funny. I had wanted to write a book showing a dog adoption through the eyes of a dog, just because it takes a while for them to get used to a home. It's confusing for them and people don't really understand. They just they adopt a dog and then they say, the dog isn't behaving. Well, the dog doesn't really know where it's coming from. I mean, Tippi was in Mississippi, left outside, then he went.

with a foster family, then he was quarantined and it's it's confusing. So I was going to write a story like that anyway. So now I think I'm going to write something inspired by Tippy and maybe show too how dogs sometimes come with health issues and we don't always understand because we can't talk to them. So I think that that'll be my next book. I'm taking a little bit of a break. I've been trying to kind of

market these books and get them out there and then I think my next book will will add Tippi in.

Markj (: 06:37

That's exciting. Well I you are spending the time on these because they're getting attention. You're getting awards for these books and it seems to be really doing well. just to watch your growth through your social media and stuff like that since we first met has really been impressive to see how far you're going and and will continue to go. So I'm really excited and and happy for you. That's really wonderful.

Christine (: 06:58

Well, thank

you so much.

Markj (: 07:00

Pleasure and I'm happy to be able to give a little bit of support in your in your path, you know, it's really cool. so when we first talked, we were talking about Elephant Beach and we were talking about shyness and the theme of shyness and shy children. We talked about your history and things like that with shyness and and then you kinda went in this other direction, we're talking about you have your ABC book, which maybe we should start with that, the A B C book and then the pet safety.

And you're moving in this path of empathy and kindness and responsibility and these type of things, which is really beautiful.

Christine (: 07:31

the ABC book was inspired by my dog. So Sophie is my dog right now, besides Tippy. So Sophie's my rescue dog. And Lola actually is a dog that I used to have. She was a little chihuahua. She had a very funny personality. She liked clothes and she would just sit there. She was very quiet, very easygoing dog. And Sophie and Lola never met, but I thought it'd be funny to put them together in a book.

Because

Markj (: 08:00

Right.

Christine (: 08:01

it shows how dogs, like people can be similar but also different. And my kids love alphabet books, but we have a lot of airplane alphabet books, car alphabet books. So

I wanted to write

Markj (: 08:14

Right.

Christine (: 08:15

my own alphabet book. And also in the book, it has A is for adopted, R is for rescued, showing people how pet adoption works and also why it's important. And then in the back of the book.

It has a story, so it shows Lola and Sophie's real story. So it tells you about both of the dogs. so here's Sophie's story. So Sophie's my dog now, she's the black one, and she came from Texas, and then Lola was the Chihuahua that I used to have. So their life stories are in the back of the book. So people can also learn about

the dogs. And then from there, that's kind of when the pet safety book came into play because I have three kids and now two dogs. And I'm always trying to teach my kids how to be safe with pets. But

Markj (: 09:10

One.

Christine (: 09:10

also I used to volunteer at the MSPCA and I know that a lot of dogs end up there because of accidents. And it's not necessarily their fault. Sometimes a child might be pulling their tail and they bite them and then the dog doesn't have a home.

Markj (: 09:24

Right.

Christine (: 09:25

So I wanted to write a book to help kids but also pets and parents all kind of be on the same page and try to just be safe together.

Markj (: 09:36

Okay, what made you want to write a an A B C book? Was that for your kids?

Christine (: 09:40

Yeah. So every night when we read, my kids gravitate towards the alphabet books just because they're younger and they are learning the alphabet and it's fun for them

Markj (: 09:49

Right.

Christine (: 09:49

to point out the letters of the alphabet. And I just thought it'd be a fun thing to do. So I started with the alphabet book because my kids like alphabet books.

Markj (: 10:03

Have you read it to them

Christine (: 10:04

yeah, they love they love it. They

like all the different letters. They're actually in the book, so they think it's funny and grandma's in the new book and stuff like that. So they like

to show all their friends and they like when I come into school and it's fun for them.

Markj (: 10:18

That's really great. And so let's talk about empathy. Where does empathy work into your books?

Christine (: 10:24

So empathy is in basically all of my books and it's just really teaching people to have empathy towards each other and towards animals and just to treat them with kindness, respect. And one thing that's important to me is just teaching my kids that the dogs, they're alive, they have bones, simple things like that that we should have kindness towards them and just realize and respect them as living creatures.

And a lot of children that learn empathy towards animals end up being more empathetic towards humans. So

I just think that

Markj (: 11:00

Mm-hmm.

Christine (: 11:00

it's good to teach them in both situations towards animals and also people.

Markj (: 11:04

Yeah.

Yeah. Do you think that kids kinda learn empathy more naturally or just even relationships sometimes through animals, you know the relationships with an animal?

Christine (: 11:15

Yeah, so that's kind of what I've learned along the way is that kids that learn how to take care of pets learn a lot of responsibilities and also how to read people's body language, understand feelings. there's a lot of good things that come with teaching kids how to take care of pets and a lot of it comes through in how their relationships are with their peers as well.

Markj (: 11:42

So it's a really good opportunity for parents if to stay tuned into that, right? As an opportunity to teach about compassion and patience and empathy and respect through their interactions with their animals. It's like a great modeling if parents can clue into that. Do you feel like that's an opportunity for parents to to do that?

Christine (: 12:04

Yes. And I think that it's good to teach kids, okay, you know, let's give the dog respect. If the d I mean, my kids know if my dog is in her bed, she wants quiet time, leave her alone. We need to respect that. And I think

Markj (: 12:19

Right.

Christine (: 12:19

that it's teaching kids compassion, but also a big thing for me is the safety issue because there are so many accidents with kids and a lot of times the dogs get blamed. So I'm hoping that

People are more

Markj (: 12:32

Whoa

Christine (: 12:32

empathetic towards animals in that sense of, okay, let's not push the animal because we don't want an accident and then the dog can't live here anymore.

Markj (: 12:43

Yeah, it's so unfair to the animal, right? It's just unfortunate. Children don't know, sometimes I think they look at animals as almost like stuffed animals. They can just kinda like roughhouse with

Christine (: 12:51

Yes. Yes, I do a lot of

talking to my kids about that. They are alive, they have bones, we can't squeeze them.

Markj (: 13:02

Right. And you have stuffed animals, a line of stuffed animals that support your book, correct? Yes.

Christine (: 13:08

And the stuffed animals

are all available on my website. Here's an elephant, but I have the dogs. They're just there's another elephant. Let me see where

Markj (: 13:16

Yeah, the dog's right. You got a lot of elephants.

Christine (: 13:24

So this is Sophie, my dog, and then this is Lola.

Markj (: 13:28

then that's a great opportunity to be able to show your children this is a this is a toy and this is a living thing, And we need to treat them differently.

Christine (: 13:37

Yes.

Actually a funny story about the stuffed animals. Sophie's vet told me they use the stuffed animals to show people sometimes how to give medication to pets because there was somebody in there that didn't know I I think they had to give the dog like a shot or something, and they were using the dog to show them. But you can also use stuffed animals to show kids how to gently interact with pets, which you can do with any

Markj (: 14:03

Yes. Okay.

Christine (: 14:04

stuffed animal, but

I tell parents that that's a good thing to do too, to show them before they interact with animals how to interact with animals. Like we're not gonna squeeze the dog and things like that.

Markj (: 14:16

Yeah, I think it's a wonderful use of the of the toy. have you come across the discussion, I'm sure you have, of children who are afraid of animals and how have you how do you approach that? Have you approached that with kids?

Christine (: 14:28

Yeah. So there's many kids and adults that are afraid of animals. And I say the same thing that I say about shy kids that it's not about pushing anybody into anything. So if somebody's afraid of a dog, I'm not gonna let Sophie run out in the yard and play with them. I mean, that's not gonna help the situation. So if kids

Markj (: 14:48

Right.

Christine (: 14:48

are afraid of animals, I think that it could help to sometimes read about animals, watch videos of animals.

learn about animals without even coming into contact with them and then slowly

be introduced to them. So if somebody's afraid of an animal, maybe I'll pick up the dog and let them give her a treat and gently pet the dog and just kind of ease them into the situation rather than saying, here's my dog. Why don't you pet her or s something like that? I think that

You can learn about it from afar and then have small interactions that are controlled by the adult and then get them slowly more comfortable with pets.

Markj (: 15:32

it's really smart to prepare them and not just assume that everybody's gonna be fine with them because or you like you said, a lot of people and adults too, a lot of kids and adults are afraid of dogs and afraid of animals. So

That education is really important and being able to because I remember having a little girl, she was so terrified, she was like three, of insects. And even a book, she couldn't even touch a book or look at a book because it it scared her so much, And so having that sensitivity and that awareness before we put kids in those situations is really smart. I know there's parents out there just like, you know, just toughen up and stuff like that, but it's just it's it's not fair. You're terrorizing the children, you know. So the

Christine (: 16:09

Yes.

Markj (: 16:10

Yeah, so this is this is really I think this is a really great lesson. You got into the feelings part. Was that the driving motivation for writing in the first place? Just wanted to be able to teach about feelings and connection with kids and the human connection?

Christine (: 16:25

Yes.

When I was teaching, my favorite part of the day was story time and I loved being able to talk to kids about the social issues that were in the book and the social skills and have a lot of discussions. And so I wanted to write my own books that would impact children and bring a lot of good discussions. And I started with my elephant book. And I love elephants, but I found that

Kids are drawn to what they're familiar with. And for a lot of kids they have pets. And I love dogs. So I kind of took a little bit of a turn to our dog book.

Markj (: 17:02

Okay.

I'm just curious a little bit about your writing process. what's your day like when you're writing?

Christine (: 17:09

I do my best writing actually at night because I need silence. And a lot of the times during the day I have kids home. So my daughter's only in part time preschool. She's only three years old. And even if she's quiet doing something, I cannot focus on the writing. So I do a lot of it at night or very early in the morning. I know some people that like to write and have music. That's that's not me. I like

Silence, I like it quiet, and I sit down and I try to think of the overall theme and then write kind of as much as I can. But then it's funny, I'll think of things during the day and I put it in my phone. So I'll think of notes. When I was doing the alphabet book, I would think of letters during the day and I would just write notes in my phone and write that way. But I feel like I'm much less stressed out if I know.

There's nothing going on, there's nothing to do, and I can just sit down and quiet and get it done.

Markj (: 18:13

Right.

Mm-hmm.

you've been on so many podcasts now, right? You've been on a number of podcasts, correct? And T V, right? You do a lot of promo, which is great.

Christine (: 18:26

Yeah, I've been doing a lot of T V shows and podcasts lately. It's it's been a lot of fun. I like meeting people and it's always interesting.

Markj (: 18:37

is there a question you've been wanting somebody to ask you that you have been asked?

Christine (: 18:42

No, but I will say the funniest question I had was somebody read about me online and realized that I really like the housewives. And she asked me

Markj (: 18:51

Yeah.

Christine (: 18:53

if Lola and Sophie were housewives, would they get along or would they not get along? And I was like, that's actually

Markj (: 19:01

All that.

Christine (: 19:02

a pretty good question. So I think that was probably the most original question I've gotten. I don't think there's one that I've had.

I've been wanting people to ask me, but I thought that was funny. She said, I know you like the Housewives, so what exactly

Markj (: 19:13

That's good.

Christine (: 19:16

would they be like as Housewife characters?

Markj (: 19:20

Well, along those lines, if you had to leave your children with one of the dogs as the most responsible dog, which dog would it be to watch your kids?

Christine (: 19:29

Well, Lola's

in heaven, but she would have been the most responsible. I don't know about Tippi with his injury, so I guess it would by default Sophie would be the one to watch that.

Markj (: 19:41

Well

Okay. When you go to schools and things like that, what's your interaction like with the kids? H what's their response to the to the books? Are they enjoying them?

Christine (: 19:52

Yes,

I've actually had a lot of really good interactions with kids. I try to make it fun so we play games. I usually bring a beach ball because we read all of my books. And

Markj (: 20:02

Right.

Christine (: 20:03

the kids are funny because they tell me a lot of things about taking care of animals. I've had kids tell me, I remember when my uncle had to bring the dog to the vet because he ate medication. And they tell me all the stories about their pets and what they haven't done. And they say, well.

My dog ran away. and a

Markj (: 20:24

Right.

Christine (: 20:24

lot of them connect to it. And it's been funny because there's a lot of kids that have other pets besides cats and dogs. There's kids that have had tell me all sorts of stories about hamsters. There was one little girl that I think she had five guinea pigs that she was telling me about. So kids really like sharing because they have pets and they can connect with the story. So they like telling me all about their pets, which is fun. And I like them being able to connect with the book.

Markj (: 20:51

Yeah, touching a child's life is how you're going to get them interested in listening to what you want to teach them, Making it relatable. So that's what's beautiful about pet books is that a lot of kids have pets or they want pets, their fantasies of wanting a pet if they if they can have one. So this is an opportunity for them to kind of live vicariously through the book has there ever been a question that kind of caught you off guard

Christine (: 21:12

most of the time when kids tell you it's question, it's not a question. It's them telling you a story. So I think that especially

Markj (: 21:16

It's just a square.

Christine (: 21:21

with the younger grades, there's been a lot of storytelling about the pets. I think more than questions, because they're always,

Markj (: 21:28

Right.

Christine (: 21:28

I have a question, I have a question, I have a question. And it's usually they want to tell me something about their pet.

So I've heard a lot of stories about pets and when pets have been sick. Not so much questions, but a lot of stories.

Markj (: 21:52

How are you at receiving them and managing your time in these classes?

Christine (: 21:56

So obviously I listen.

So if they want to tell me a story and it's actually

Markj (: 22:00

Yeah there.

Christine (: 22:01

not a question, that's fine. I whatever they want to share with me is totally fine. Most of the time it does have to do with the topic. So you want to tell

Markj (: 22:10

Great.

Christine (: 22:10

me a story? Fine. Go ahead and tell me a story about your five guinea pigs and how you take care of them and things like that. So it's been really funny because the kids are cute.

Markj (: 22:22

How does it feel to be responsible for those thoughts and reactions? you're encouraging this kind of stuff. you're creating this impetus for these children. It's gotta be rewarding.

Christine (: 22:31

Yes,

it's very rewarding. I love it. I wanted to be a vet, but I cannot stomach blood. So that was not the path right for me. So I'm glad that I can work on books and connect them with animals and also teach kids about how to be kind to animals. So it's kind of tying everything together because when I was small, that's all I wanted to do was be a vet. But if you

Markj (: 22:56

Yeah.

Christine (: 22:56

can't take the side of blood, it's not gonna work.

Markj (: 22:59

Yeah.

how do you see your growth from the beginning before writing or in the process of writing Elephant Beach to who you are now? you have any advice for that person starting out? And what kind of growth have you felt in yourself through this experience?

Christine (: 23:19

I

think that it's been a lot of trial and error. So just to tell myself back in the day to just have patience with everything because there's a lot of things that I've tried that haven't necessarily worked. And I've just tried different avenues and there's been a lot of emails that I send out to bookstores and libraries. Sometimes people respond, sometimes people don't. And I've just kind of learned that I have to take the positive and focus on that.

Not so much all the people that aren't responding. So I've just been trying to get my books out there as much as I can and to just really try different things. There's been things I've tried online. There's been different marketing things, different places that I've gone to do story times. I mean, I went to a farm and I've gone to doggy happy hours lately. I'm just

Markj (: 24:15

Well.

Christine (: 24:14

Wherever I can try

to get the book out there, that's what I'm doing. And I would just tell the person that wrote Elephant Beach in the beginning to just be patient with myself and also understand that not everything's gonna be easy or go the way that I want it to go originally. And there's gonna be bumps in the road.

Markj (: 24:35

For sure. What's one of the surprises that you've come to realize on this end of it now, from this path that you've been on?

Christine (: 24:43

I've

actually been surprised as to how supportive the indie authors are online. I've met a lot of really great people on Instagram. I'm in a author Instagram group, and everybody's so helpful, and everybody has wonderful ideas and they do a lot of collaborations together. And it's nice to see that there's other people out there like me that are trying to get their book out there and just

kind of trying whatever we can do to get it out there. And I love being able to send them things and say, can somebody help me on this? One girl in the group was is really good with Canva and I honestly cannot figure it out. And she

made me a brochure the other day. I said, I I'm really struggling. I want to make a brochure to give to schools. And she said, no problem. I'll make you one and then as long as I can post about it. So it's been nice to kind of find a community online.

That I can connect with that's helpful and supportive.

Markj (: 25:43

Yeah, that's wonderful. Yeah. You need that, you know? It's it's good to get that feedback from people who are kinda the in on the inside who are being honest with you but also considerate and and and working with you, right? That's really get that feedback's kind of important I would think.

Christine (: 25:58

Yes. And it's nice too because if something doesn't work out, they'll say, well, I understand this happened or that happened. So you don't feel like, my goodness, I'm a total failure. This isn't working out. It's nice to be able to connect with other people and see that other people are also kind of struggling with trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work.

Markj (: 26:20

And playing on that idea of connection, parents and their children, I think books like yours are a great way for parents to connect with their kids. Could you talk to that point just a little bit?

Christine (: 26:32

Well,

thank you for saying that. But I love reading with my kids every single night. It's a wonderful thing that we do. I have three, so they usually take turns picking a book and we get to read what everybody wants to read. Sometimes people pick the same book over and over again. The other two get upset and I say, Well, this is their choice. So you get to pick yours. And I just like being able to read with kids and have good discussions about.

Books while learning through the story. And that was my whole point in writing Elephant Beach was I wanted to get the message out there about shy kids. And I'm happy to see that parents enjoy reading the books and that parents are able to use the books to connect with their children. Yeah. If you give

Markj (: 27:22

Yeah. Yeah, because I

Christine (: 27:24

me one second, Ti Tippy just ran up here. I can go grab him. One second.

Markj (: 27:29

Let's meet Tippy. Yeah. It's all good.

Christine (: 27:30

It's a a family show today, apparently. Tippy.

So this is this is our newest member, Tippy He's so sweet.

Markj (: 27:38

Tippy. it's so sweet.

Look at that face. Got the neck brace on. Yeah.

Christine (: 27:44

I know, but he's got a little neck brace on, but he's so sweet. Yes, he's such a good little boy.

Markj (: 27:51

He is such a sweetheart. He's bigger than I thought.

Christine (: 27:54

Yeah, he is fifteen pounds, but he's he's so easy going. And I just feel so bad that he had such a rough life. But now he's

Markj (: 28:02

Yeah.

Christine (: 28:03

he's got a happy house, right?

Markj (: 28:06

Yeah, he's gonna be a he's gonna have a whole new life. How old is he?

Christine (: 28:09

So they think he was around four.

Markj (: 28:12

Around four okay. Have all your dogs been rescue dogs?

Christine (: 28:16

So Sophie was a rescue dog. Lola was not a rescue dog. I got Lola when I was eight eighteen. I was young when I got Lola. But since

Markj (: 28:23

okay.

Christine (: 28:24

then I've only gotten rescue dogs because there's so many of them. And they say now the numbers are astronomical because people can't afford to take care of the dogs. And a lot of the shelters near us have been waiving adoption fees because they just

can't find people to adopt the dogs and people are dropping dogs off because they can't pay the vet bills.

Markj (: 28:49

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I mean, that's why I was saying earlier, he's very lucky that he has you because you can and you're willing to pay those bills because it's expensive and just even feeding a dog, but people are struggling to feed their families now, so to be able to have that extended family with your animals is challenging. He's just got such a great he's staring right at me. It's incredible.

Christine (: 29:10

He's he's such a good little guy.

Markj (: 29:12

yes.

You know, I feel like today there's a lot of mixed messages about feelings, and teaching feelings in schools and things like that. there's so much emphasis on the curriculum that needs to be taught and learned and and I wonder, how we continue to make sure that that is put in there. 'cause if we're raising children that are just

gonna tick boxes on the curriculum, then we're gonna raise children without a sense of themselves and a sense of what it's like to be a part of a community, do you see your books having a an impact in that direction and helping kids foster those kind of things? The feelings, the empathy, the respect, all that

Christine (: 29:55

hoping

that a lot of parents use their time at home to read books with kids because as you said, it's sad. A lot of the schools focus solely on curriculum and even some of the story times aren't in the day anymore because it's focused on only reading text that connects to the curriculum. So I think that parents have to do some extra reading with kids at home to kind of reinforce those social skills and go over all of that.

And as much as I would like the schools to focus on that, sadly there's so much going on with the curriculum.

Markj (: 30:31

Yeah, it's true. I I feel like so much of the things that enrich us artistically through literature, things like that are are being pushed down more. And so we're not getting that full spectrum of a human experience, and and then we're we're missing out, I think, and potentially missing out on what kids have inside them to offer because they may not know how to even get in touch with some of this stuff.

So I'm so appreciative that that's what you're you're fostering in your books, that you're focusing on these things. because I really think this is a time right now that we need books like yours.

Christine (: 31:07

Thank you. I'm I'm hoping that people find it helpful, but I do agree that it's sad that the schools have kind of taken a lot of that out of their daily schedule because it is so important for kids to not only learn the curriculum. Kids need to learn social skills.

Markj (: 31:25

Absolutely. Well, keep doing what you're doing. I I can't wait for Tippi's book to come out. and also to find out how his surgery went because I'm excited for him to be not in pain anymore, as I know you are. so would you say that would be like the message that you would want parents to walk away with today, mostly to engage with their children and to read to them and to work on

that whole human connection through maybe the experience with animals, but just trying to foster the best person in themselves and getting in touch with their feelings.

Or maybe you maybe you could say it and I won't say it for you.

Christine (: 32:00

Yes, I would have to agree with Hey, the way you

said it was beautiful. I think that it sounds great. Just getting kids to have connections with people, animals, and also to be safe around animals, but to realize that we should treat each other, whether an animal or people, with kindness, respect, empathy, and to

Hopefully you just be nice to each other while reading.

Markj (: 32:33

And then extend outward. I would love it. Let the books be the starting

Christine (: 32:35

Yeah, that's right.

Markj (: 32:36

point,

Christine (: 32:36

Yes, I would agree.

Markj (: 32:38

I know this has been a little bit of a hectic time on both ends here today with the tech And you've had, your family visit which has been great and I get to see Tippy. So in some ways it's my goodness, it's unbelievable. Yeah.

Christine (: 32:49

Tippy could stay like this all day if I would let him. This is he just likes to snuggle.

Markj (: 32:56

He's just resting his head. my goodness, he's he's wanted to be loved for a long time apparently.

Christine (: 33:01

I know. Poor thing. Well, I they don't know how long he was left outside because he did have an owner and then the family I don't I don't know why people do this. Instead of dropping him off at the shelter, they tied him up outside. Why? You can't just go drop the dog off, I don't know. So they don't know how long he was outside. So I think now he's just very happy to have a family and he would be carried around all day if I could.

Markj (: 33:29

Yeah. Well maybe when he's all fixed he'll wanna run around more. Maybe he'll

Christine (: 33:33

Yes.

Markj (: 33:34

he'll feel better. Yeah, won't have to slow down so much.

Christine, I'm so grateful for your time. You're really just such a wonderful person. I feel so fortunate to to know you and and call you friend. And and I want you to know that this is always a place you can come back to whenever your next book comes out and anything you need to promote. I'm I'm so happy to be able to do that for you.

Christine (: 33:56

Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it and I appreciate our friendship. And I have done a lot of podcasts, but a lot of people I haven't kept in contact with. And I'm very fortunate that we've kept in contact and you've had me back on the show. I enjoy being on the show. And I just

Markj (: 34:13

Good, thank you

Christine (: 34:14

appreciate how you're trying to help get my books out there and my message out there. So I want to thank you for.

having me back on. I know today was a little hectic with trying to get a date put into place, but I appreciate it.

Markj (: 34:30

My pleasure, we did it. I was I was determined to make this happen. and so can you tell us how people can get your books, or they can contact you, your website, things like that?

Christine (: 34:39

Sure. So my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And then if you want to get the books signed by me or purchase the stuffed animals, you can go to my website and it's Christine and then it's a hyphen divane. And there's also a spot if you want to book me for author visits or for book events. I'm doing a few events in the fall. I have my schedule there. And then on Instagram I post things. It's S-T-I-N-E-D 13.

And people can find me there. They can reach out to me there. So any of those places are a great place to find me and connect with me, say hello. And yeah, I love hearing back from people. And one of your friends, I love that she loved my book and she sent me, did you see a picture of the poster they sent me? It's awesome. I love it.

Markj (: 35:27

Yes. I did.

From Elephant Beach. That was amazing.

Christine (: 35:34

Yeah, so I love hearing from people and it's nice to hear when people enjoy the book and connect with the book.

Markj (: 35:41

absolutely. It's gotta be really thrilling. I mean, just being able to say you have a book, I think, is really something that I always felt like was the the thing that I've always wanted in my life was to say that I had a book out there, you know. So good for you. Maybe one

Christine (: 35:54

Thank you. Maybe one day you will too.

Markj (: 35:57

day. Maybe one day, we'll see. anyway, have a wonderful rest of the day. This has been a delight. Come back when your next book is up and running. And

It's just great to see you

Christine (: 36:08

It was nice to see you two and I hope you have a lovely afternoon and Mr. Tippy

Markj (: 36:14

Thanks, you too.

Bye, Mr. Tippy. Good luck with surgery, sir.

Christine (: 36:19

I know.

Markj (: 36:20

I'll let you go, Chris. Thanks so much.

Christine (: 36:22

Bye.