Hardworking animals take literary break

Hardworking humans get to take vacations, often to far-flung places like the mountains, the seashore, the tropics or Europe. What about hardworking animals? Where would leisure lure them?

That’s a question Steve Erickson, 71, of Cedar Rapids, has been noodling for 10 or 15 years.

“Being a creative director, my brain is always thinking crazy stuff,” said the recently minted children’s book author. Before that, he was president of Henry Russell Bruce advertising agency, which merged with ME&V in 2014 to create Amperage, where he served as chief creative officer.

Between working full time, then retiring early in 2017 to care for his wife, Nancy, who died in 2019, the notion of animal vacations got pushed to the back of his mind.

“After she passed away, I thought, ‘I need to scan the stories that are in my head,’ ” he said.

First came “A Very Chilling Mystery” in 2022, imagining what happens inside a refrigerator when the door is closed. And in late 2023 came his latest musing, “Where do Animals go for Vacation?”

To incorporate more of his artistry, he illustrated both books, too. That was actually scarier for him than the words, which came quickly.

For the first book, he did watercolor paintings. But for the next one, he stepped into the digital realm to work off his original sketches. That ultimately gave him more options with colors and made changes come more easily. However, it took a month just to learn the software, and about six months to create the whimsical animal scenes.

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So where might exhausted animals go to recharge their batteries?

Taking creative license with Erickson’s text, by adding our own sneak-peek rhymes: A fast-swimming shark might head for the Jacuzzi at a tropical resort, watch “Jaws” and munch on fish-shaped crackers, not visitors in each port.

Turtles might head for the slopes, never fearing a fall, since they can ride down on their shell and still have a ball.

An ostrich might try to fly, and an elephant may go where no pachyderm has gone before, high up in the sky.

Many more critters and Erickson’s own rhymes await readers young and old.

By reading not only to children, but in senior gatherings and retirement homes, he discovered that his refrigerator book resonated with all ages. Some of the elders said they had always wondered what was going on inside the stalwart appliance.

In stories sent to him later on, he learned that one person’s granddaughter takes a peek every time she walks by, and another person’s grandson put his cellphone on video and set it inside the fridge. Checking the video, he reported that “it’s just dark in there, Grandma.”

“Bingo,” Erickson said. “That's exactly what I wanted to do — get kids thinking and using their imagination.”

The first book was written for his six grandchildren, who were more than happy to share their opinions, and he also ran it by several elementary teacher friends and librarians. All were wonderful experiences, he was happy to report.

“One thing I found, is when you write your first book, the first question people have afterwards is, ‘What’s your next book going to be about?’ ”

Even though he wanted to just enjoy that one for a while, it didn’t take him long to let his inner animals emerge. The ones who didn’t make it into this book may make it into the next one, because unlike Erickson’s spirit, salmon may just be tired from swimming upstream.

Erickson’s books are available at steveaerickson.com, as well as on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble and Next Page Books in Cedar Rapids.

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com