How many times have you heard the phrase “Boys Will Be Boys?” It is usually said because a boy has behaved in a way he shouldn’t, touched something and broke it, or landed in some minor trouble. You can almost hear the person making that statement saying silently, “Of course a boy did it.” Boys and girls doing things wrong, mess things up, get into minor scrapes, but the majority of the time not because they had planned ahead nor was it intentional. There are books about boys but not nearly as many as there are about girls. The Disney Company seems to have the exclusive for girls. The day I decided to write a children’s story, I only had one child in mind a boy. I was walking to the gym to exercise and as it was December and a bit nippy in Ireland, I was thinking about Gus, my grandson, and what he might want for Christmas. I wanted to do a series for boys that they could follow and enjoy. Obviously, along the way I added girl characters. To be fair, I have given a few girls leading roles in the stories just so they wouldn’t feel left out. What was funny is that when book One was published, “Pecos Meets Bad Bart,” girls loved the story just as much as the boys did. I thought it would be nice to have the hero, Gus, a Sheriff of a small town in Texas,namely Pecos. In the late 1800’s Pecos was a thriving community. From the pictures, it was a pleasant looking town. The boys in my stories do get into mischief and sometimes they are the heroes. Their adventures also have a moral such as listen to your parents, don’t try scary things, follow directions, and read as much as possible. I hope that if there is a favorite boy in your life, that you will introduce him to the books in the Good Gus series.
Boys Will Be Boys
25
Sep