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We Did It!

Author Carolyn Joyce Dodds And Illustrator June Gomez

Reveal the first copy of Tessa's Tall Tales

Purchase Your Copy At Barnes & Noble

Happy New Customer

Have you ever received this look from a parent, guardian or mentor?

Proud of our collaboration

Cheers!

Well done "Wolf pack"

Words from Author...

Tessa's Tall Tales was written over 25 years ago, based on yours truly, as a kid. I was a bit of a story-teller and it drove my family and teachers nuts. I just saw the world as having so much more potential to be exciting and adventurous, yet I was living this mundane, vanilla life with very strict parents and a bossy older sister. It was agonizing - talking about things the way they happened, rather than the way they FELT.

Fast forward to adulthood. I was teaching and listening to kids tell fibs and half truths all day long. Seeing how families handled such scenarios was fascinating, so I decided to write a book about the woes of deception. But that manuscript and many others were tabled for years after the births of my sons in 2000 and 2001.

In 2005 when my oldest started kindergarten I met another mom on the playground, June Gomez and we forged a friendship with a handful of other moms as well as our kids' kindergarten teacher. Deeming ourselves "The Wolfpack," we are still friends to this day and have seen each other through every one of life's hurdles. June and I have talked about collaborating on a book together since 2005, as she is an artist. In 2020 we put our heads together and made it happen. Each one of the illustrations are paintings she did for this book.

There's so much more that can be said, but I'll start with that. I was a syndicated newspaper columnist for years and have been a Special Education Teacher for many more - two of my passions combined - reading and writing :)

This book is important to me because it's a story close to my heart and the characters have all been painted as wolves, as a way to pay homage to our wolfpack.

Happy Tessa Thoughts

Described through the creative mind behind the art

June Gomez

Illustrator Of Tessa's Tall Tales

June Gomez has been a native Californian all her life.

She grew up nurturing her artistic talents from an

incredibly young age. Long family road trips were never taken without her sketchbook in hand. The

cloud formations outside the station wagon window were her first creative inspirations. Her talents

were evident in her youth to her family and teachers. Art and creative projects were a favorite subject of

June’s in Elementary as well as secondary school. Voted ‘Most Creative’ in her senior year in high school

set the stage for a four-year journey to the Academy of Art in San Francisco, CA, where June earned a

bachelor’s degree in Illustration. Her professional artwork is evident in murals for children’s rooms,

dental offices, and commercial spaces around the greater Bay Area.

Tessa’s Tall Tales is the second children’s book illustrated by June, the first being “What if Strawberries

had no Hats?” written by Cassaundra Brown was June’s first published children’s tale.

See More Of June's Art

The Sand Bucket

The sand bucket was the last of 30 or so illustrations for “Tessa’s Tall Tales”.
We had a page that needed some imagery of its own. I had fun with this one because it took me back to my childhood when my best neighborhood friend and I would bury toys in our backyards and then draw each other a treasure maps for a fun day of discovery.

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It;s Truuue!

This is a very special page to both the author and I. Tessa’s pose was drawn multiple times to capture the emotion of the imaginative child that truly believes her own tales. I have a special place in my artistic heart for animals and a fun space ship will always tickle the imagination!
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Swimming with Whales

The imagination is vast, it can reach the sky as well as go to the great depths of the ocean. Exploration and adventure begins with the imagination.
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Mother & Father

Have you ever received this look from a parent, guardian or mentor? Perhaps even your friends look at you this way when you’re trying to sell your tales. In our youth, it’s a game of cat and mouse.
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What People Are Saying About Tessa's Tall Tales

"Jamie S. writes:This was such a cute story about the importance of telling the truth instead of making stories up to sound like the truth! I have two girls of my own and have taught preschool for 27 years! I had many children come to mind that I was reminded of while reading this cute book!"

Jamie S.

“Heidi H. says this is such a sweet book about a lesson hard to explain to kids at times. Well done Miss Dodds! Her son and former student of Ms. Dodds, Jake, says — “This book is about respect, telling lies and always telling the truth.””

Heidi H.

“I love this book and I love Carolyn Joyce Dodds for writing it!!”

Juliet H.

“Pam G. writes: I just thought it was very well written and I love the illustrations. It was tactfully and subtly sending a message about what is creating a story to share and what is going overboard where it turns into a lie. It was a social story and we need more of it with our young people. That's where it starts, that's where manners, compassion, sympathy empathy all starts— in the very young. Round of applause! ”

Pam G.

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The Sand Bucket

The sand bucket was the last of 30 or so illustrations for “Tessa’s Tall Tales”.

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Swimming with Whales

Exploration and adventure begins with the imagination.

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Mother & Father

Have you ever received this look from a parent, guardian or mentor?

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