WILLIAMSBURG — A locally written children’s book by a grandmother and grandson — co-authors Diane Clarcq and Landon Gaboury — aims to teach young readers about the history of America and the power of friendship.
The story follows feline Winston as he leaves his childhood home to seek excitement on the high seas and thrills in the New World.
The genesis for Winston’s story begins long before his trip to the New World, starting in the streets of Colonial Williamsburg, where Clarcq and a young Gaboury would take early morning walks.
“We saw some very interesting things during that time period,” Clarcq recalled. “One of the questions that came up was how are these cats here and how did cats ever come to America? Were they native here? Did the Indians have cats? Did they domesticate small cats? That sort of topic.”
“So, we kind of delved into that, and we made some trips up to the Smithsonian, and we went to various museums, and looked up items at the library, and read books to try and figure out the possibilities,” Clarcq continued.
Their research showed the ways that cats came and how cats were utilized on the ships that came over from Europe to help keep grains and such safe from rats and mice.
The duo continued brainstorming and came up with an idea for names and how they wanted to weave mice into the story. And, they found it was a fun project.
“[The experience of working on this with my grandson] is priceless,” said Clarcq. “I’m glad that we were curious and open to the project and worked on it together. It was sort of sidelined as [Gaboury] got into his midteen years doing other activities, but we always kept it on the burner and whenever we got together, we talked about it and did our storyboard.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair were able to spend more time on it, and once the story was ready, they reached out to a publisher.
Currently, the authors are still looking locally for book signing opportunities. They plan to donate part of the proceeds from the books to Schwarzie’s Cat Cove in New Town. In March they will attend a juried book signing in Ohio.
The book also features illustrations by Francesca Pesci.
“Winston Travels to America” will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble on Jan. 7, however, Clarcq says interested parties can also reach to her to meet and receive autographed copies with payment accepted by Venmo.
More information will soon be available on Facebook or Instagram.
