arts&life

books

Song
To
Book

Andy Gutman writes

children’s books based on

his own songs.

SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

details:

Andy Gutman will head a presentation of
his children’s books 1-2 p.m. Saturday,
April 7, at Paper Trail Books, Royal Oak.
(248) 677-4628. Books are available at
gutcheckpublishing.com; songs can be
downloaded at soundcloud.com/drewgut.

Andy Gutman

44

April 5 • 2018

jn

A

ndy Gutman started writing
poetry when he was a student at
Southfield-Lathrup High School.
Soon, he began turning those verses into
songs.
At Michigan State University, Gutman
continued his expressiveness while pur-
suing a degree in accounting. He did not
stop as accounting work for commercial
real estate firms moved him into positions
based in the real estate itself.
Gutman, 48, and president of the
Farbman Group, based in Southfield,
can count more than 300 finished songs,
which can be accessed via his Soundcloud
account.
As he advanced in his day-to-day work,
Gutman sought professionals to polish
off his creative side with musical arrange-
ments that could bring three of his songs
to public attention through iTunes.
Then he, in conversation with his wife
and daughter, had another idea — turning
the songs into children’s picture books.
First came Charlie the Caterpillar in 2017,
quickly followed by Pop Lullaby.
The books, self-published and intro-
duced through classroom readings, are
getting a wider audience April 7 through
Paper Trail Books in Royal Oak. Gutman
will read them, singer-keyboardist Steve
Acho will perform the related music

and posters will be given out to children
attending the presentation.
Gutman, who produces his projects to
retain creative consistency, is looking for-
ward to sharing his outlook.
“The two books and songs that go with
them have a personal meaning for me,”
he explains. “They’re both written with or
about my daughter, Riley, and I love that
about them.
“The storyline in Charlie has the mes-
sage that everyone is unique and special
and has something valuable that needs to
be known. Conversations about caterpil-
lars with my wife, Lesley, and our daugh-
ter led to a song and the book.”
The second book is a bedtime story
about a tired father trying to soothe a
baby through song — but also about the
hopes and aspirations he has for his child.
“It’s based on songs I used to make up
and sing to my daughter when she was
an infant,” he says. “I would be trying
to get her to sleep or stop crying. When
you’re a new parent, those are tough times
because you don’t get much sleep, but
they’re also special times because you
connect with your child on a pure level.”
Although the text for Pop Lullaby was
written long before Charlie the Caterpillar,
they were produced in opposite order.
While Caterpillar took almost two years to