After laying down her paintbrushes, Connie Raschke Miller began penning books for children. Her first, “Pickles,” was published last year.
Miller wanted to find a way to give children laughs and something to relate to following the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde. She dedicated the book to the elementary students there.
“I want to put a smile on the faces of these kids,” she said, “and give them sweet dreams.”
Miller talked about how children can’t seem to escape the tragic event, even years later.
“I had a heart for children in the classrooms nearby,” she said, “hearing things they shouldn’t have to hear.”
The book is a collection of stories of gorillas, mice, fish and inchworms that face challenges they didn’t expect to find themselves in, hence the title of the book.
Miller called “The Egg” one of her favorite stories from the book: A mother ostrich warmed one of her eggs far longer than everyone said she should. Her dedication to the egg kept her from the rest of her family. “Give up on it,” they’d tell her, only to find out that once the egg hatched, the chick was large enough to help everyone in the family.
“Isabella Citronella the Inchworm (The Inchworm who would be Queen)” follows the story of a bookworm who would read at a library to other “critters.” The inchworm would get in character, but when she became Queen Isabella Citronella Inchworm, she realized she grew to be unlikable. What began as fun for the critters eventually put them in a “pickle,” but the inchworm eventually realized and removed her crown.
Miller instills that sometimes, there is worth in waiting for a potentially good thing, and everyone finds themselves needing to reassess at points.
Another favorite is the rooster: a story about Edgar Allan Poultry, a poet “cockle-doodle doing.” His once-annoying squawks became fun for all the farm animals in the tale when they learned to join him in song and dance, rather than ignore and gawk at him.
Miller’s stories follow common pickles people find themselves in at young ages: the difficulty of being the odd one out by having freckles or different hair, being in an uncomfortable place or not knowing what to do when an annoying chicken won’t go away. All of these difficulties are overcome when the characters meet others who understand them.
The author said she wanted to write a story that would help children not have nightmares anymore — A friend of hers mentioned that after reading the book to her child, her night terrors ceased.
Illustrator Gary Sanchez brought the characters to life and helped her along the journey of writing her first book. The two met through her publishing company and hit it off immediately.
Her husband, an author and historian, was a help, as well, she said. While she kept the ideas coming, he assumed the role of her typist.
Before she began to write, Miller was an oil painter and member of Die Künstler von Fredericksburg, a volunteer member artist group. But “writing was a nice change,” she said, as she’s now in her 80s.
She and her characters will be featured in a reading hour at Pioneer Memorial Library, and each child will have a coloring page from the book. The event, virtual and in-person, has yet to be scheduled. She also hopes to go to Uvalde and visit elementary school students.
