I knew the SCBW&I (Society of Children’s Book Author’s and Illustrators) event was going to be a great way to celebrate the release of my new book Ready or Not, Woolbur Goes to School, but I was worried the advertising may have exaggerated the farmyness of my farm:
“Beloved children’s book author-illustrator Lee Harper will give us a tour of his studio and barn; talk about his background, artistic process and school visits; and sign books. Following his presentation, artists are encouraged to spend time sketching the animals on the farm and to visit the Pine Run Reservoir Bird Sanctuary and Covered Bridge that abuts the property.”
I DO have a cat, but the cat lives it’s life in the rafters of the barn, rarely making daytime appearances.
I have a dog but you don’t need to make a special trip to a farm to draw a dog. The only honest-to-goodness farm animals on this farm were five chicks that had just recently begun their transition to the pasture. It was six chicks a few days ago before the unfortunately named Butterball was lost to a hawk. Who knew how long the other five would hold out? With the vulnerability of the chicken population, I knew I needed more depth at the barnyard animal position.
Since Woolbur is a sheep, it seemed logical that the next addition to the farm would be sheep. I wanted a Baby Doll lamb because that was the breed of lambs that inspired the look of Woolbur, but my friend that breeds Baby Doll lambs didn’t have any available. I called on several other sheep farmers but their lambs were also all sold. I broadened my search to Alpacas and Llamas but all I could afford in a Llama or Alpaca would be one ready for the retirement community. Then a break: a farmer I found on Craigslist returned my call. She had a whole flock of Jacob sheep available. She explained that they bought the farm from her husband’s brother and the sheep came with the farm. They were multiplying so fast they didn’t know what to do with ‘em all.
I said, “Perfect!” but my wife Krista suggested we sleep on it. She questioned whether they were, indeed, actually sheep. In hindsight, Krista’s suspicions were well founded. A week later my friend with the Baby Doll lambs suggested we try a friend of hers who also had some Jacobs lambs available. At first I hesitated because I thought they were going to look like the other Jacobs sheep we’d seen.
But these lambs were completely different. They were cute and fluffy and looked like, well…sheep!
They were too young to bring home right away, so I arranged to have them delivered the morning of the event! The farmer we bought them from was kind enough to stay with them for the duration of the festivities. I don’t know if anyone drew them, but the event went very well and we are now honest-to-goodness farm folk. We named the lambs Ditty, Dot and Dee.