ABOUT THE BOOK

The book idea was a simple assignment; look up words that lend themselves to narratives. I poured over 8,000 pages of different dictionaries on a treasure hunt for the coolest, quirkiest, most visually descriptive words and alliterative couplets I’d never heard that eventually became my wacky revue of improbable characters.

“Acorn Daddy.” For a couple of weeks at age three, Skyler prefaced everything she said with “acorn.” Initially, the first page of the book was “A is for Anti-Gravity Acorn.” This led to the hidden acorns on each page (an arm wave to children everywhere who searched for the little mouse in Goodnight Moon).

I knew in my heart I was creating a work that, while complicated, would challenge the ABC status quo! I hoped to remove the boundaries between young and old, simple and sophisticated. The book is layered with exotic words and definitions, a custom-made illuminated typeface, plus details like the hidden acorns. I have created an unflagging lineup of curious illustrations, considered in the same school as Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, and Dr. Suess.

While working on Daedal Doodle, I was repeatedly asked, “What are these characters stories?” I was trained from birth to listen to talk radio. As a kid, I grew up listening to New York’s WOR, WINS, and WNYC. As an adult I did not stray far–WNYC (which is my browser’s home page) and of course all things NPR. I did not want to write a book of stories as much as I tried to get back to painting, but the repeated nagging question never stopped coming: “What are these characters stories?”

I began to write stories about these unusual characters, weaving my love of listening to National Public Radio into each short story and Radio Stories: NPR Unauthorized Cautionary Tales was born.