Patricia Cartwright and her son Craig Cartwright are in the midst of working on their third children’s book, "Meet Zoey, the Zebra." She is the writer, and he is the illustrator. It’s a dream come true for them both.
Patricia, now in her early 80s, had never written a book before she collaborated with Craig on their first book, “Meet Oscar the Otter,” followed by "Meet Rusty the Red Panda."
“I always wanted to be a writer,” says Patricia. “I was even editor of my high school newspaper. But after I met my husband Bill, when he was at Naval Academy, I embarked on a different life. I became an Air Force wife and mother, and an elementary school librarian.”
The couple moved to Venice in 2000 from Virginia. Coincidentally, Craig lives in Venice, California. He is a successful illustrator who has designed products for Disney and The Simpsons, done storyboarding for Pixar, and worked on numerous other children's books.
Craig started drawing at a young age and his talent was noticed from the start. “People would tell me ‘you have to go to school for this’ (drawing).” So, he did, earning a BFA degree in Illustration from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1991.
Patricia has wanted to write a book about a friendly otter named Oscar for years – ever since the Cartwrights, when hiking as a family in New Hampshire, came across some very playful otters. “They were so enjoyable to watch. Then it got to be a family joke. I'd be greeted with ‘Hey mom, how’s the Oscar book going,’” says Patricia, adding, “I always knew I wanted Craig to be my illustrator.”
It was only after Patricia was waylaid by a broken hip and the COVID-19 pandemic, that the two finally started collaborating. “The isolation made it so there were no more excuses to delay,” she says. They started “Oscar” towards the end of 2020, and it was in print by 2021.
Working together, sharing their creativity, and being in constant contact turned out to be the biggest gift of all. Patricia wrote the story; Craig brought the characters to life with pictures and illustrations. “We did really well together, feeding ideas off each other,” says Craig.
“I like to incorporate things that really happened,” says Patricia. For example, there's a scene in "Oscar" that was taken straight from real life. “We were on a chartered boat trip to Sanibel island. We disembarked, but when we returned there were two otters on the boat, eating my bait fish. It was such a hilarious scene.”
They also decided to include an educational component in the book after Patricia's son (and Craig's brother) Scott pointed out that some words in the story were more advanced for the age group it was intended for (ages 5 and up). Instead of replacing those challenging words, they were highlighted in the text, and Craig ‘hid’ them in the accompanying illustration.
A special note to young readers was added explaining that, if they came across unfamiliar words, their job was to be a detective and find the hidden word in the drawing that will help to understand its meaning. There's also a crossword at the end of the book using all the words that were highlighted.
“We've got a lot of compliments from teachers about that,” says Patricia.
Even more books are coming from this very special mother and son team, says Patricia. “We want to introduce interesting animals from around the world, emphasize their unique abilities, what makes each of them special, and instill curiosity about learning about animals you might not see in your backyard.”
Find "Oscar" and "Rusty" at Celebration Corner (celebrationcornervenicefl.com), an educational toy store on Venice Ave. in downtown Venice, or contact Patricia Cartwright at plcwec@aol.com.