“The book’s main characters are Monkey, my dog, and Bug, which is Hannah’s cat, and Monkey is a young dog who was adopted by us, and in the book, he’s feeling a little upset because he misses his littermates, who he played with all the time, but he’s made friends with a cat named Bug, who wants to help him not feel so bad and lonely,” said Scott Smallwood, author of the book.
Along the way, Monkey and Bug learn things like how to accept their individuality, and how to cope with sadness. They also meet new friends. At the Corn Stand Jam, everyone danced and agreed there is always someone to talk to. Even though everyone is unique, they learned to celebrate each other’s differences.
The duo also strives to raise awareness about children’s mental health.
Smallwood said he’s always wanted to write a children’s book. He’s also a chemist who writes papers and patents.
“I thought the best thing to do was to take a dog and a cat, because a dog and a cat are total opposites, and you can show that they can be friends,” he said. “Hannah’s style of animation really brings all the glow and the warmth of these characters to life.”
In addition to the focus on the importance of mental health for kids, he said a secondary theme is that people (dogs, or cats) can be friends with people who are not like them, and diversity is a good thing.
Illustrator Hannah Tebbe said she met Smallwood at Municipal Brew Works in Hamilton, where she previously was a bartender.
“I was pretty lucky that Scott and Jimmy gave me creative freedom with how I wanted to draw things. I sketched out everything first and then I went through and picked apart, page by page, which one I wanted to do that day. In all, it took me four-to-five months to finish all of the pages,” Tebbe said.
The year before she started on the book, Tebbe had drawn comic strips that featured her cat, Bug. So, she was already familiar with drawing him in a style that felt like her own.
“I tried to make everything toward the end of the book colorful and fun like the Corn Stand Jam. I have been before, and I wanted to represent that Monkey was in a happy place with his littermates again, and the book ended on a really positive, colorful, and fun note,” said Tebbe.
Tebbe said it’s been exciting to see the community rally around and support the project, and it’s been especially meaningful to see how kids react.
Focused on mental health awareness, The Corn Stand Jam, originally known as Christian’s Corn Stand Jam, was founded in 2019, as a music festival to honor and celebrate the life of Christian Unger.
Smallwood has volunteered at Corn Stand Jam since its beginning, and he said he wanted to do something more than set up chairs or sell beer tickets.
“I wanted to do something to make a difference,” he said. “I figured this would not only make a difference with the Corn Stand Jam, but we could create some funds, and get the word out into the community, specifically to children, that it’s okay not to be okay. A lot of mental health right now focuses on teenagers and adults, but not at that young level,” Smallwood said.
The book has been available at Corn Stand Jam, local events, and on social media. About 500 to 600 copies of “Monkey and Bug’s Night at the Corn Stand Jam” have also been given away to various organizations and schools, such as Rosa Parks Elementary School in Middletown, Hope’s Closet, Boys & Girls Club, and the Booker T. Washington Community Center, among others.
For more information on “Monkey and Bug’s Night at the Corn Stand Jam,” go to https://www.facebook.com/monkeyandbugsnightatthecornstandjam or at https://www.instagram.com/monkeyandbugcornstandjam.
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