Gwendolyn: A Frog's Perilous Adventure evolved from an actual trip a green tree frog took with the author, Rene' Palmer Armstrong, on her car's side-view mirror.
Rene' left her home in her car, traveling down the freeway to another town to make a bank deposit. At the same time the drive-in bank teller presented the tray to take the transaction, the author and the teller saw the tree frog on the car's side-view mirror. The frightened frog's eyes seemed to be the size of saucers! Both chuckled and agreed that this wasn't the best place for the frog to be as the next car would probably run her over. Rene' told the frog to hang on and she would take her straight home. Upon arriving at her home, the frog jumped off the mirror, hopped around the front of the car, and headed down the sidewalk to the pond behind Rene's house.
Rene' was inspired by experiencing this little frog's perilous adventure and immediately sat down, writing her first story about Gwendolyn. The story needed a plush toy of Gwendolyn to accompany the future book. Rene' scoured the internet and found several plush toy manufacturers. With crude sketches and ideas swirling around her head, Rene' contacted Binkley Custom Plush Toys and Gwendolyn, the nerdy little girl frog, was born.
After getting the toy finalized, she began the process of laying out the book and trying to find an illustrator to make this little story come alive. Rene' had previously collaborated with Lloyd Sullivan, a photographer, in bringing Wings and a Ring: Letters of Way and Love from a WWII Pilot to the marketplace. With his advanced skills in Photoshop and other computerized programs, Gwendolyn began to take life on the written page.
This book is the first of several books which will tell the stories of adventures and infamous characters encountered by Gwendolyn. She recently took a tour of England and France. She was amazed by what she saw on her adventures "over there." Here is Qwendolyn with her new friend, a Bobbie - England's version of our policeman!
Rene' left her home in her car, traveling down the freeway to another town to make a bank deposit. At the same time the drive-in bank teller presented the tray to take the transaction, the author and the teller saw the tree frog on the car's side-view mirror. The frightened frog's eyes seemed to be the size of saucers! Both chuckled and agreed that this wasn't the best place for the frog to be as the next car would probably run her over. Rene' told the frog to hang on and she would take her straight home. Upon arriving at her home, the frog jumped off the mirror, hopped around the front of the car, and headed down the sidewalk to the pond behind Rene's house.
Rene' was inspired by experiencing this little frog's perilous adventure and immediately sat down, writing her first story about Gwendolyn. The story needed a plush toy of Gwendolyn to accompany the future book. Rene' scoured the internet and found several plush toy manufacturers. With crude sketches and ideas swirling around her head, Rene' contacted Binkley Custom Plush Toys and Gwendolyn, the nerdy little girl frog, was born.
After getting the toy finalized, she began the process of laying out the book and trying to find an illustrator to make this little story come alive. Rene' had previously collaborated with Lloyd Sullivan, a photographer, in bringing Wings and a Ring: Letters of Way and Love from a WWII Pilot to the marketplace. With his advanced skills in Photoshop and other computerized programs, Gwendolyn began to take life on the written page.
This book is the first of several books which will tell the stories of adventures and infamous characters encountered by Gwendolyn. She recently took a tour of England and France. She was amazed by what she saw on her adventures "over there." Here is Qwendolyn with her new friend, a Bobbie - England's version of our policeman!
