How did ‘Frizzle Finds a Friend’ come into being?
This was a remarkable adventure. I was in Portugal to interview the Chief Inspector of Police in Lisbon. At the time, I was working on a report for the KNPV, for publication in ‘The Police Dog’.
When visiting Lagos one morning, I stopped to pet a dog on the side of the road. This led to a chance encounter with Sean, who happens to own a Portuguese Water Dog, and who is the founder of Days of Adventure.
Sean takes visitors, mostly tourists, on a boat to see dolphins, and to visit the caves along the Algarve coast.
He knew that I am a writer and regularly write about dogs. He asked if I’d consider writing about his Portuguese Water Dog Zuca. Zuca is an extraordinary dog in several ways. For starters, he is locally known for his excellent dolphin spotting skills.
Zuca is also great with children.
Sean told me that he had wanted a book about his dog for a long time, but had never found the right person to do it. He said, “But if you take this on, I just know the book will happen.”
So I went to work and found in Christian (Portret-je.nl) the perfect illustrator to bring this particular Portuguese Water Dog to life.
In May 2018, the first English version appeared. Because Days of Adventure receives guests from all over the world, there will soon be a German, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese and Dutch version of ‘Frizzle’. Frizzle is available in nine languages.
A story about the real Zuca, who has also been on an exciting adventure in Brazil, is in the pipeline.
Nine languages including Frizzle coloring picture:
* Personal names have been changed for privacy reasons.