WEST PARIS — A dozen children and their parents gathered at the West Paris Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday to hear Greenwood resident D.C. Sherer read her book “The Cat With the Question Mark Tail.”

Sherer, who moved to Greenwood from Nantucket, Mass., in 1998, said her 16-year-old cat, Tigger, was the motivation behind the book. It follows Tigger as he explores the woods around Twitchell Pond in Greenwood and tries to satiate his curiosity.

“We own a camp and we actually called it ‘Tig’s Digs,’” Sherer told the audience. “He’s a very curious cat and always sits on the screen porch, staring outside at the critters. We used to let him outside to explore, but he’s going to be 17 in the fall. His hearing is gone now. He still finds ways to get into trouble, but he stays indoors now.”

In the book, Tigger’s curiosity eventually gets the better of him, and he winds up outside, meeting several woodland critters and making new friends.

After Sherer finished the story, she asked a boy in the audience what he thought about it.

“I thought it was very creative,” he said. Sherer laughed and thanked him. She later asked him what he learned from it.

“You can make new friends by talking,” he said.

Sherer agreed and told the children, “I think the story is also about how it’s possible to make new friends, even though they don’t look like you.”

“The Cat With the Question Mark Tail” was published in 2005, Sherer said, and children continue to purchase and enjoy it nearly eight years later.

One of the draws to the book, she said, is the illustrations by Greenwood resident Joanie Kintz.

“She uses a different type of drawing technique,” Sherer said. “It gives it a unique look.”

Kintz explained that for the book’s illustrations, she would draw small sections of a particular drawing and would then take watered-down paint and color over the drawing. Afterward, she said she would “gently sprinkle salt over the section I just painted over, and then let it sit out in the sun.

“The salt actually bites the color out of the drawing,” Kintz said. “After the painting dries, you can just peel the salt off of the paper and it leaves behind a lighter color. I do this over and over again until the drawing is completely finished.”

Following the reading, Kintz gave the children the chance to experiment with the style of painting she used to make “The Cat With the Question Mark Tail.”

Sherer, who also works at the Bethel Early Learning Center, has published several other children’s books, including “Merry Marvelous Mermaids,” “Pig at the Fair,” “E is for an Elf Named Jolly” and “Marley’s Walk,” which was published in the Goose River Press Anthology in Waldoboro.

Kintz’s artwork will remain on display at the library during August.

[email protected]

Supporting Sponsor for the Advertiser Democrat
Keeping communities informed by supporting local news. norwaysavings.bank