Josie is still a member of the Sun City Summerlin, Las Vegas, and Anthem Sun City, Henderson, Nevada, Writers Clubs.

A work submission on the Summerlin Writers' and Poet's Workshop blog: http://www.summerlinww.blogspot.com/ 

 

List of Accomplishments and Associations 

Spotlight Magazine Articles, Suzhou, China

  



Below: a work submission on the Summerlin Writers' and Poet's Workshop blog http://www.summerlinww.blogspot.com/

 

How a Non-animal Lover Began to Write Children’s Books about Endangered Animals.

By Josephine F. Quintana, June 2013

Published on www.summerlinww.blogspot.com

     The mangy black dog came out of nowhere, chasing my brothers and me on our rickety bikes near rusty railroad tracks in a poverty-stricken, gang neighborhood of the barrios of East Los Angeles. The loose animal lunged at Eddie-my older brother-biting one of his legs and knocking him off his bike. Quickly jumping onto the young boy, the beast began biting his back as I watched the horrendous event in horror.

     I panicked; my front bike wheel slipped into a train track causing me to lose control, spilling me off and onto a pavement where I scraped my mouth and chipped my two front teeth.

     Danny, my younger brother trailing behind me, got off his bike and rushed towards me, while the dog continued to attack Eddie. Ignoring my gushing bleeding mouth, Danny and I picked up some thick rocks and bulleted them towards the animal. Then a passing neighbor appeared and chased away the furry attacker that scurried off with the rapidity of lightning as if it was off to strike again. The humanitarian escorted us back to our home, carrying a bleeding and whimpering Eddie in his arms.

      I was relieved that my family never had dogs or cats as pets in our house. My fear from that traumatic event blocked my need for being a pet owner as a child and as an adult. I turned down invitations to homes of pet owners, or the occupants had to remove them elsewhere or lock up them up when I arrived. Zoos rarely saw me. I never shelved in my house or held in my hands children’s books about animals. When I had my own child, I read him bedtime books on everything except animals. Then one day, a trip to Australia in 2007 changed everything.

     As an international art teacher, I lived and taught art in China for several years, and I spent long vacations in nearby countries. Traveling through the eastern coast of Australia, where 90% of the country’s population resides, I was cajoled into a tour to see Koalas at an animal sanctuary on Magnetic Island not far from Cairns. Holding the furry thick, haired grey animal in my arms and looking into its little, slanted, black button eyes, I fell in love. After learning about the need to save endangered animals as told by the tour guide, I headed to several other Australian animal sanctuaries and reserves and filled my digital camera with pictures of more indigenous animals. I couldn’t understand why Homo sapiens exploited God’s creatures to the edge of endangerment and some to their eventual extinction.

    On the flight back to China, I sat next to a young girl reading a book on animals. I asked her if she liked the book and she replied positively and then handed it to me. With deep interest, amusement, and leisure, I perused it. Then it hit me. Yes! I’ll write a children’s book on Koalas and use my Australian animal pictures for the story. Since I always loved poetry, I formatted the story line in verse about a lost baby Koala who tries to find its mother. That first children’s book (Tiwi: the Lost Baby Koala of Magnetic Island, Australia) was published by Llumina Press in 2008.

     Wanting to create an awareness of endangered animals in the world, I incorporated animals in my art lessons for all grade levels using various media. Additionally, I required students to do a short research paper on their selected animal.

     With the help of my students' artwork, I ventured on to publish my second book (Sasha and Malia, The Lost Giant Pandas) in 2010 about the National Treasure of China: the Giant Panda. Using the same theme, I was on a roll. My students loved it, so we sent the book to President Obama as a gift to his daughters. A CNN news log published a blurb on it.

     I don’t plan on becoming famous for these animal books. In fact, I wrote these humble stories for the little ones in my life-my legacy to them.

     By the way, I still don’t have pets, and I'm still leery of unleashed dogs; some thing never change.

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"Writing is its own reward."

Henry Miller

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