What do you get when three retired school teachers with a love for dolphins come together? Two great children’s books – about dolphins.
Louise Jardell, Cheryl Goudeau and Elizabeth Broussard have fond memories of their summer vacations at Fort Walton Beach (hence FWB Artists) watching bottlenose dolphins, painting and swimming in the Gulf. “One of things that prompted us to write is that we all grew up on the water- either on Weeks Bay, Bayou Tech or the Gulf of Mexico,” shares Louise who along with the others has a collection of dolphin figurines.
So, when the ladies learned about the rare pink bottlenose dolphin in Lake Calcasieu, Pinky, they were prompted to create the endearing character Katie the pink dolphin and write Katie the Pink Dolphin Plays Hide and Seek, which was released in 2019.
Two years later, another dolphin experience inspired a second book: Katie the Pink Dolphin Vacations in Grand Isle. Elizabeth shares the story of when her uncles were fishing at Grand Isle while she and her dad were watching from the beach. As the high tide came in, five sharks appeared. Just as her uncles starting swimming to escape, dolphins came in butted the sharks and killed them.
In Katie the Pink Dolphin Vacations in Grand Isle, Katie and her friends discover underwater treasures, buried by the pirate Jean Lafitte, and tangle up with dangerous sharks because they don’t follow the rules.
Louise says the book has a few messages: “Stay close to the pod (or family); be aware of your surroundings; and realize what can happen if you don’t pay attention. Children also learn problem solving.”
Geared toward 3 to 9-year-olds, the stories are perfect for preschoolers and early readers. “I have a neighbor whose daughter sleeps with her book, and she’s in kindergarten,” adds Louise. “Parents have told us that the kids go online to look at videos about bottlenose dolphins and learn interesting characteristics like the fact that they have to come up from the water to breathe.”
The creation of the books is truly a team effort, with Louise creating the characters, Elizabeth coming up with the stories and Cheryl editing, illustrating and running the business side.
Last year the authors made a presentation before the Philanthropic Educational Organization, sharing their journey to self-publishing their books with other female authors who are looking to publish their stories.
While the Katie the Pink Dolphin series is sold mostly at book stores in the New Orleans area, they can be purchased online at KatiethePinkDolphin.com and locally at Books Along the Teche in New Iberia.
As a vendor traveling the furthest, (from Metairie) the women are not able to attend every month, but will be present in April. You can’t miss their booth with the large pink dolphin helium balloon. “Children come over and love to look at the colorful characters in the book,” says Louise who points out a photo of the real pink dolphin in the back of the books. Young fans are also treated to coloring and activity pages – and sea shells painted with dolphins, sea horses and octopus.
“Delcambre is a special place for us to sell the books because so many of the Louisiana fishermen and their families have seen the pink dolphin,” notes Louise. “We like that the people and other vendors of the market, are so wonderful, kind and interesting. It’s amazing how many families come – including men. We have people who come to the market from Grand Isle to get the Katie the Pink Dolphin Vacations in Grand Isle. The customers who attend the market, for the most part, live on the water, fish and are involved with the water, and they love stories about the dolphins as much as we do.”
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