Publishing My Mom’s Children’s Story: Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #48

By Tonya McQuade

Cover photo drawn by my son, Aaron Silva, for my mom's book:

"Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend"

Are you looking for a great gift idea for a child in your life who enjoys animals? Well, let me tell you about my mom's new book ...

Years ago, I remember my mother talking about wanting to write a children’s book about her chicken Henrietta. I didn’t know she had actually written one until I was helping my parents go through boxes of old cards and photos this past summer, and I came across a folder with both a story about Henrietta and Weber, as well as an essay about raising chickens. I could see my mom had even gotten some feedback from someone on the manuscript; but then, she tucked it away inside a folder, where it stayed hidden for more than thirty years.

I was in high school when my dad first brought home chickens, and since I soon went away to college, I did not have as much experience with the chickens as my mom and the rest of the family did – but I watched as she fell in love with the chickens, started painting chickens, and started decorating the kitchen with chickens (on the walls, not in the oven!). I watched as she nursed Spot (aka. Weber) back to health, saw how upset she was when she learned Filo had been killed, and tried to comfort her when I found her crying by the phone one day, thinking she had just received some tragic news. She had: Peanut (another one of the chickens) had died.

One of my mom’s paintings of a chicken and young girl

My mom has always been an animal lover, taking in many stray cats over the years, as well as dogs, chickens, hamsters, fish, birds, and even a goose. On a recent trip to visit her in Antioch, she wanted to go to Walmart so she could buy more birdseed for her bird feeders in the backyard, as well as peanuts for the squirrels. Her favorite vacation was to Africa, where she was able to see many animals on safari, as well as hike the trail to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda.

I’m so glad I came across her lost manuscripts and so happy I could help make my mom’s dream a reality by publishing her work. Henrietta and Weber Find a Friend is her children’s book about our family pets Henrietta, Weber, Tippy, and Scruffy. My mother, of course, is the “kind lady” in the house!

I surprised my mom with her newly-published book on her birthday in September.

Aaron drew the cover and inside illustrations for her book.

The paragraphs above that you just read appear in the book as my “Editor’s Note” at the end. I had so much fun reading my mom's story, typing it up, and preparing it for publication. Aaron, too, was happy to contribute his artwork. My mom was very excited to see her story and essay in print - and was thrilled to see photos of young relatives reading her book (thanks to Jennifer and Joy for sending photos!). She was also grateful to be asked by some of her friends to autograph their books!

According to their mom, this is their new favorite book!

Another fan of my mom's book

Here, I share an excerpt from my mom's essay that appears after the children’s story:

I knew from the very beginning that they would mean trouble for me. Doug knew how much I loved animals, but he still decided to buy some baby chicks to be part of our living-off-the-earth plan. It wasn’t enough for him that we already had a large garden, which kept me busy with canning and various other preserving methods. We had built out own passive solar home together, which he designed. Reading "Mother Earth News" and "Organic Gardening" had become a way of life for us. So, it was only expected that raising chickens would also fit into this plan. But that’s where we ran into some definite differences in values.

I had gone along with most of the changes we were making in our lives pretty well, at least in my opinion. Now Doug would have a different tale to tell, especially when he first proposed the whole idea to me of selling our lovely home and building one ourselves. It meant we would all have some sacrifices to make for a while. Once I got over the shock, I was able to adjust quite well. There was an old house already on the property that we could live in while we were building our new home. Of course, it was full of fleas, but we managed to get rid of them. We considered the year we spent in the old house as camping out. Everyone pitched in and worked to help build the house, and it was exciting to see it all taking shape. Of course, there were those times when things didn’t go quite right, but the end product made up for any discomfort any of us experienced.

Once the house was finished, we settled in to complete our new life-style change of living pattern. We landscaped with drought-resistant plants and planted a wonderful vegetable garden, along with many fruit trees. It seemed as if our long-range goal and dream of the future had finally happened.

Why did he have to bring home those baby chicks and spoil it all? He knew I would get attached to them and NEVER be able to eat any of them. So, he proceeded to tell me they were his chicks, and I wasn’t to have anything to do with them. I managed to barely converse with him for about three days. Meanwhile, the chicks lived in the garage while he prepared their living quarters.

A photo of Henrietta - who survived the longest of all the chickens

I snuck a peek at them more than once. Eventually I got over my stubbornness, and we all named a chick. Doug named his Friar, or should I say, “Fryer.” He was going to make sure he got his point across. As luck would have it, Friar ended up being a rooster. Now, it was okay to have chickens within the city limits, but a rooster could cause some problems. Our neighbors didn’t seem to mind when I checked with them. The problem took care of itself, however, because Friar ended up dying before too long. The chickens became a part of our lives, and I loved watching all their crazy little antics. Having been raised in Chicago, I had never even been close to a chicken, so this was a new experience for me.

Eventually, I was able to find out what brooding meant because Patience decided to brood. Since we no longer had a rooster, Doug went to a farm and got her some fertilized eggs. During the night he switched her eggs for the fertilized ones. Some weeks later, I was to see the miracle of life peeking out from under the mound of black and white downy feathers.

If you want to read the rest of my mom’s essay, as well as the cute story of how Henrietta and Weber find a friend, I encourage you to buy her book at this Amazon link. Below is one of the photos Aaron drew for the book, showing the kind lady in the house holding the new “friend” Henrietta and Weber found. He said this is his favorite of the illustrations, and I have to say, it’s my favorite, too!