WAPAKONETA — A childhood spent growing up on a farm fostered a love of the outdoors for a local writer, who is releasing the first in a series of nature-inspired children’s books.
“Galon the Northern Pintail Duck” introduces the main character in this series to readers as it tells the story of Galon – how he first arrived at the pond, which he calls home.
“Each book in the series will be about situations children may encounter in life or questions they may have in life,” said author Pam Egbert, of Wapakoneta.
“Galon will tackle the problems and work through the different situations with the help of some other animals at the pond and at the local farm,” she said.
Illustrations by Davina Kinney help bring to life the animals, which are to be featured throughout the series.
The books are being published by James Paul Publishing, of Hilliard, which concentrates on children’s books and ebooks.
In 2001, Pam’s father, Alvin Egbert, built a cabin he had wanted for many years. Starting with a spot in the middle of the woods, the trees were cleared and a pond dug. Her father built a dock where they could sit and watch the fish swimming and the other animals around the pond.
“The pond was built out of love and my dad always took care of the wildlife at the pond and in the woods,” Egbert said.
“After my father passed away from cancer, we had a pair of ducks who came to the pond every spring, and they stayed there until their babies could fly or until they were ready to move on. They didn’t bother with me and I left them alone,” she said.
One day while she was mowing, Egbert was inspired by the ducks and pulled out a notebook from her truck. She sat down on the cabin porch and started to write the story of Galon.
For the first book in the planned series, Egbert has Galon figuring out where he fits in at the pond since he doesn’t have a formal family. She anticipates life experiences to continue to allow her to add to her original notebook and create future stories in the series.
When James Paul Publishing decided to publish “Galon the Northern Pintail Duck,” they asked Egbert who her charity would be for future fundraising with the book. Egbert said that was easy, the kids.
“In the local school systems there are numbers as high as 60 percent of the students have some kind of financial assistance with their lunches,” said Egbert. “How many of these children go home and do not eat until they go back to school the next morning.”
“When Pam said she wanted to work on feeding the children in the towns she visits we came up with the idea of selling Galon bookmarks at the events. Pam also said she wanted to charge $1 for the autographed pictures and add that to the money we are making on the book marks. The net proceeds will be donated to the local non-profit organization helping out in that town. If there is no one working on a project to feed the local children we will find a county program that is reaching out to those in need.” James Bruce said.
“I am also working with Pusheta Creek Steaks, Wapakoneta, on this bookmark,” Egbert said.
Galon also updates his followers with a blog, “A Note from Galon,” on his Website. The Facebook page is updated on a regular basis.
An original song, “Galon’s Song”, developed specifically for her series by La Donna Brewer Capps and Barry Wayne Tone Slingers Recording Studio, in Nashville, Tennessee, will be released along with book.
On Oct. 10, a book launch party for Egbert will be held at Marley’s Downtown in Wapakoneta from 5 to 7 p.m. Egbert will be there to autograph the book.
On Oct. 31, Egbert will be at Village Market & Deli, New Knoxville, for a book signing from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Egbert’s family knew Gene and Jane Kuck and they were gracious enough to host this book signing. This will be the first public appearance and book signing for Egbert and she wanted to go back to her home town to do this.
For more information on “Galon the Northern Pintail Duck” go to www.pamegbertbooks.com.
