Here you will find a picture of Michi as a baby, but in my second picture book story, she’s nine years old. She’s a sweet American “girl next door.” Michi and her good friend Makoto both love dogs and they each yearn to have one for a pet. That's when the trouble starts.
Here are some of the karate picture book particulars for my second book. GENRE: Realistic fiction with imagined abstract concepts. SETTING: Modern day America, mostly in two homes and a karate school.
I had written and edited the story for my first book, and finished the illustrations. The next step was printing book prototypes so that I could get input from beta readers including both children and adults. I needed professional color printing, so off to the printer I went.
It must be an age-old conundrum for practiced martial artists. Even adults brag on their karate skills, but lack the ability to show it. Traditional martial artists consistently build character and that should be apparent in their behavior of striving for respect, self-control and confidence even if they never show you their fighting or defense moves.
For my first two classroom readings of my character building book I went to two separate kindergarten classrooms where I knew none of the kids and only one of the teachers. That’s where I introduced character concepts through my fictional karate story.