Mitzvah’s Ongoing Gifts
“Each day is a gift. Open it. Celebrate. Enjoy it.”
Stuart and Linda MacFarlane
During those wonderful twelve years when Mitzvah lived with me, the scruffy blind dog was a constant source of love and inspiration. A year and a half after her passing, she continues to bring unexpected treasures into my life. How does she do that? I don’t have the answer to “how,” but let me give two recent examples of her on-going gift-giving:
Picture yours truly walking into a professional recording studio, tucked inside the most prestigious theater in my area. I had booked a recording session to narrate the three Mitzvah books. I read each of them: A Dog Named Mitzvah (A Very True Story), Mitzvah Gets Scared, and Mazel Tov, Mitzvah! Of course, I had practiced and practiced, but I was still pleasantly surprised that the reading went smoothly. With Mitzvah Gets Scared, I had to render sound effects, such as “Boom!” and “Mmmeeooowww” and “Vvrrroooommm,” so we practiced the distance I should be from the microphone as well as the volume of those sounds. As I stood in the darkened room, images from movies and television popped into my mind: a character enters a sound booth, faces the microphone, and begins to read or sing. And there I was, sharing Mitzvah’s stories.
I am grateful to the sound engineer and sound technician who guided me through the process with skill and patience. Soon they will work their magic: they will select the best takes (I did two takes of each book), a snippet of music will be applied to the beginning and the end of each book (musical samples will be sent to me for my decision), and ultimately, the recordings will become audio books and will be available on Amazon.
The second gift that Mitzvah gave me this month is this: A Dog Named Mitzvah was among the books featured by the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in a new promotional program. The SCBWI is an international group that works tirelessly to encourage authors and visual artists in their creation of books for children. The North American branch just launched a monthly series, each dedicated to a particular theme. November 2020 was the inaugural month, with “kindness” being the chosen theme. Authors and illustrators who had a book featuring that theme were invited to submit a short application; I did so with Mitzvah’s first book. I was thrilled when I received the acceptance email. Mitzvah’s story of her courageous overcoming of life’s adversities may well find new readers because the SCBWI list is targeted to booksellers, teachers, and librarians.
Pasted below is the link to the November list. If you’d like, click on it and discover how many wonderful books there are for children. To see my book, click on the Picture Book category and scroll down—the books are in (roughly) alphabetical order, so head towards the “D” for “Dog.”
Mitzvah, you are in puppy heaven now, and I miss you so much. Thank you for continuing to inspire me in countless ways. You were and are a treasure!
