Book Birthday Blog with Deb Pilutti

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

 

Congratulations to Deb Pilutti on the release of My Best Friend is a Lion 

 

How did you come up with the idea for your book? 

It came from an exercise at a writing retreat. We were doing an exercise that connected to ourselves as children and I was writing down things that I remembered from that age. One memory that stuck with me was the time I wanted to have a pet lion. I was very shy and I remember thinking my friends would be awed and a little afraid if I showed up with a pet lion. The story is not autobiographical, and my circumstances were different than the main character in my book, but some of the feelings were the same.

 

 

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

It was fun for me to imagine what the MC could do if she had a lion for a friend. I hope that readers will enjoy the silliness of the situations and notice the dichotomy between the text and the illustrations. The MC is a slightly unreliable narrator! 

 

What was the most difficult part of writing and illustrating this book?

Deciding on how to portray the imaginative part of the story vs. real life. I ended up using more saturated colors, simple crayon lines and textured backgrounds. 

 

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?

It will be available in bookstores and online Jan. 7!

What's next for you?

Good question!! I am starting to explore that and am currently working on some other stories.

More about the book . . .

Friendship troubles are hard! Especially when your best friends start leaving you out of their fun.



But this little girl knows what would make everything better—a lion! If her best friend was a lion, they could go to the park without an adult, do amazing dunks on the basketball court, and get free ice cream whenever they want. Everyone would be jealous—especially those other friends.



A lion would definitely fix things, right?



Imagining and drawing some of their adventures help her work through her big feelings. And it turns out that sometimes, problems get better with a little time, creativity, and being yourself.

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin

More about the author/illustrator . . . 

Deb Pilutti writes and illustrates books for children with humor and candor. 
She once wished she had a pet lion, but is now content to walk around the neighborhood with an Australian Shepard named Tater. 

She and her husband live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Instagram and Bluesky @dpilutti, Facebook @Deb Folta Pilutti