Where does inspiration for writing children’s books come from? From our memories of childhood and youth. Naturally.
When I was eight Dad married a woman with a railroad apartment. To get through it to the kitchen, toilet, or T.V., not to mention our own sleeping room, we had to pass through everybody else’s rooms. Which led to some awkward stuff happening.
One day I was heading through the door gauntlet and pulled open a door that revealed a totally naked Dad, full frontal. Holy Crow. A nude adult male looked a whole lot different from a little boy! The curving muscles, the textures. The astonishing size of his penis, and the bumpy surface of his scrotum. The wine-ripe colors. I think I gawked.
Then I felt his embarrassment and closed the door. My heart pounded a little. What now? Would he act weird? He was an emotional man. Sometimes he over reacted when he was upset.
Dad took quite a bit of time getting dressed. When he eventually joined me in the living room, covered up by his usual home apparel of jeans and a tee, we were both nervous. And I realized that both of us were concerned with the other's reaction to the naked incident.
He made himself a cup of tea. I looked at an art book on Edward Hopper. Time passed. And the naked moment just blew over us and away. Within the hour, we were talking about Hopper, dinner, the usual lovely patter.
And that, as a kid, was not a bad message. After all, everybody is just a few bits of cloth from nude as they go about their lives. Big deal. Naked is nice, too, but for my dad very private, and I was glad that we could both accept that the occasional accident occurs in close living quarters without any ruffled feathers.
Dad was a good man. He wasn’t always right, but I do think he tried. Too bad he had abominable taste in women. That railroad apartment -what a mistake!
So you ask yourself - nudity! Is this a topic for children's books? And if so, what age? Should you mention the male genital bit? Is that too much?
I'm not going to answer these questions. I'd like to hear what you think.
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