arts & entertainment

A Tushy Tale

A Football Fantasy

Deborah Aronson gets to the bottom of
what happened to a town's rear ends.

Jeff London and Howard Fridson teach
an important life lesson on the gridiron.

I

I

Esther Allweiss Ingber
Contributing Writer

R

other than focus on herself,
first-time children's book author
D e i b o ocrr a r,: o n 1, .1 8 9 1 n_
Deborah (Debbie) Aronson would
much rather talk about her opera-singer
daughter, Justine, of New York City, or her
husband, Dr. Peter Aronson, supervisor
of dermatology at the John D. Dingell VA
Medical Center in Detroit.
Aronson, a retired social worker, is
most comfortable at home in Bloomfield
Township, fine-tuning the rhyming couplets
as 'The Nightmare Song:" she said. "It was
that have become her specialty. Because of
such a feeling of accomplishment to finish it"
her picture book, Where's My Tushy?, she's
As a writer, Aronson is "constantly antici-
gamely participating in public readings, book pating what will make the story better —
signings and interviews.
changing the length, improving the humor,
Told in playful rhyme for ages 3-8, Where's
making the rhyme better:'
My Tushy? describes the hard-
She starts every couplet with
ships for people whose tushies
an idea for how it will rhyme at
(rear ends) decide to take a
the end, adding, "A thesaurus can
vacation. The book's illustrator
help you get out of a rut."
is Ivica Stevanovic.
Once satisfied with writing
Aronson sent her manu-
as a mental exercise, Aronson
script to Kar-Ben, a publisher
became curious to know "wheth-
of Jewish children's book titles
er anything I'd written could be
with Lerner Publishing Group.
published:' She decided against
The book sold in 2012. On
self-publishing because "I had no
May 1 this year, Where's
idea how to go about marketing
Deborah Aro nson
My Tushy? was released
a book:'
for nationwide distribution under the
Aronson subscribed to agent blogs
CarolRhoda Books imprint, another Lerner
online to determine the kind of children's
division.
books they sought. She submitted several
"It's now in its second printing; said
manuscripts to agents and publishers found
Aronson, also noting the positive reviews
through the Society of Children's Book
from Kirkus and School Library Journal.
Writers and Illustrators.
In July, Lerner arranged for Aronson to
"They were all rejected:' Aronson said. "It
read Where's My Tushy? during a child-
made me say to myself, 'Why did I think I
friendly service on the beach for members of
could do this?"'
the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, in Long
For Where's My Tushy?, she first tried tell-
Island, N.Y. Cantor Debra Stein personally
ing her story from the viewpoints of different
purchased a book for every family in atten-
characters. She also played with rhyming
dance.
structures.
"The kids were very cute and asked me to
"I asked people: 'Is "bottom" offensive? Is
sign the book:' Aronson said.
"patootie" offensive?'"
A Chicago native, Aronson is the middle
Through another manuscript submis-
sion, Ronnie Ann Herman of the Herman
of three sisters born to the late Tillie and the
late Joe Abrams.
Agency agreed to become Aronson's agent.
A book from her parents' library
She helped negotiate the contract with
Paramount Poems by Morris Bishop, inspired HarperCollins Publishing for Dragons
Aronson's lifelong love of light verse. She
From Mars, Aronson's second book, sched-
especially likes the poem "How to Treat
uled for publication in the fall of 2016.
Elves," which "combines humor with a little
Illustrating will be Colin Jack, story artist at
mayhem — Bishop's trademark:'
Dream Works Animation. ❑
Listening to Gilbert & Sullivan's "The
Nightmare Song" from their opera lolanthe
As part of this year's Jewish Book
got Aronson thinking about "whether a
Fair, Deborah Aronson presents a free
regular person like me could tell a story with
reading of Where's My Tushy? at 11 a.m.
a Gilbertian rhyming structure.
Thursday, Nov.13, inside Shalom Street
"I stayed up all night trying to write a
at the Jewish Community Center in
children's story that I called 'The Hole Story:
West Bloomfield. www.jccdet.org .
using the same intricate rhyming structure

Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

here's a joke in Dr. Jeff
London's family.
It starts with a question:
"How many Londons does it take
to change a light bulb?" The answer
becomes: "Two: one to change it, and
one to write a song about it."
London, who earns his living as a
child psychiatrist in Troy, regularly
writes songs and poetry with a broad
range of subjects.
He began writing verse to enhance
celebrations for birthdays, anniversaries
and holidays. Soon, everyday circum-
stances became motivators.
Sometimes, when asked
to speak before professional
groups about medications or
specific emotional problems,
he develops rhymed introduc-
tions.
The writing process is not
always quick.
The Animals' Great Football
Game, a poem written at least
10 years ago, stayed with
him and recently became
a children's book illus-
trated by Howard Fridson of
Huntington Woods.
Although the book is
meant to be funny, there's an
underlying message about the
importance of every player to
a team, whether the player is
as big as a rhinoceros or as
small as a centipede.
The writer and artist will
introduce their collaborative effort in
two sessions at this year's Jewish Book
Fair: at 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, in
Shalom Street at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield; and at 1
p.m. the same day at the JCC in Oak
Park.
"It's cool to be at both places"
says London, 66, father of three and
grandfather of four. "I'm hoping that
the audience will be both parents and
elementary school kids. The book is for
7-, 8- and 9-year-olds who want to be
introduced to football.
"I'm going to read a poem about the
process of writing for both adults and
kids, and I'm going to talk about writ-
ing the book. Howard is going to talk
about how he does illustrations. Then,
we're going to talk about how we work
together.
"We'll put the illustrations up on a big

imos,
Great : ,Football
Game

'

It

By Dr. Jeff London
Drawings by Howard Fridson

screen and read the book. Then, we're
going to answer questions. We want to
encourage kids to write:'
Both men look forward to signing
books.
Although London
describes the process
of writing poetry and
songs as coming natu-
rally to him, this is his
first book and is self-
published.
"I had long thought
about doing something
with the poem and
decided to turn it into a
book," London says. "I
had a friend who knew
Howard and suggested
I call him. It took us
about six months to put
it all together"
As Fridson was doing
the illustrations, the
two would meet every
couple of weeks to talk
about the project.
"We decided not to
have deadlines," says
Fridson, 65, who has worked on other
children's books, including Fred the
Fly and the Boom Boom Blossom, Our
Family Treasure and Maya's First Rose.
"I've always loved animals, and I
could play with the images, putting
human expressions on animal faces"
Fridson, who studied art at Wayne
State University, has specialized in wall
murals, mostly in homes. He has used
his skills to enhance favorite family
spaces.
"I ask my wife, Cathy, and kids to
look over my illustrations before the
books are finished" says Fridson,
who has been part of the minyan at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park
and a member of B'nai B'rith. "I've
worked on this book as a loyal Lions
fan"

Football on page 42

October 23 • 2014

37