Jim Haverland

Regarding the genesis of "The Tales from the Deep Dark Forest" it began many years ago when my wife and I were in an airport in Ireland and saw a display of small, (4" x 5") books that were ridiculously funny, and appealing, not only to us, but more so to our children. They were written by Roger Hargreaves and were a series of "Mr." books.

Many years later, while I was working for IBM, my then-current manager, whose name was Robin, was going to be promoted to a Branch Manager, a very well deserved promotion. Recalling the Roger Hargreaves books, I decided to write a tribute to her in a similar book format, do the drawings myself, make it humorous, and let her know the promotion was well deserved.

Considering her name was Robin and she took care of the branches, it wasn't a stretch to have her status elevated for her care of the forest, in which she lived . The gift was much appreciated!

That book started the juices flowing and I realized that there were an incredible number of stories in my head that needed to be written. All were funny, whimsical, edifying for children, had a moral, and would appeal to children and adults. All the books revolve around the people in a forest.

The premise, then, for all the stories, of which there will be at least 7, is a previously undiscovered forest in which the people are ethical, moral, kind, and respectful. If they are not, there is always a good result and a good lesson to be learned.

During my corporate working days it would have been disrespectful to spend as much time on the books as I recently have. But with my corporate life in the rear view mirror, it became time to unleash the lessons that children need to learn - through my books. The main lesson - KINDNESS!

As of today, 3 books have been published, an additional 1 is nearly complete, and 3 more already have complete story lines.

BACKGROUND

I was born and raised in New York and had 4 siblings and 2 wonderful parents. We were a middle-of-the-road middle class family, and if we were tight, none of the kids ever knew it. All was positive in life!

Around the age of 8 I received a paint-by-numbers set, a picture of a horse. I loved it and apparently that single experience influenced my College degree which was a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Notre Dame.

Since there was little opportunity to actually make money as an artist, my talent and my desires had a to take a back seat to the realities of life. But over the years, I have sold many oil paintings while my books sat on the back shelf of my mind.

Now, out of the working world, we all get to experience the result of my joyful and positive life. Presenting the "Tales From the Deep Dark Forest"