Mr. Tone

This is the second version of Mr. Tone which replaces that which originally appeared here.

"Now, as we know," said Mister Tone,

This fish balloon seems blue;

And, in a way, you might say,

Like the Fish in the Moon!

But, when you see round things,

Don't you want to play catch?

No, I don't mean the fish;

I've got better things than that!"

Then, he opened his coat,

And his coat was full of stars,

And round things called planets

Named Neptune and Mars.

There was a ringed one named Saturn,

And tiny Mercury,

Which he flicked with his finger

And sent sailing straight to me!

- Dia Sobin, excerpt from One Day with Mr. Tone,

copyright 2010 (all rights reserved)

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A little earlier this year, I was inspired to write some "read-aloud" verses for very young children about a magical character named "Mr. Tone" whom only children could see. The exact nature of Mr. Tone is never disclosed in the story. He simply appears in a park one day and entertains a toddler named Louise while she sits in her stroller, completely unnoticed by Louise's mom, who is sunning herself nearby.

Oh, and Mr. Tone also has several - equally as invisible to adults -animal companions.

Mac encouraged me to write for children... with hopes of collaborating with me one day. And, in a sense, he has, though not in a way which either of us could have foreseen. I'm not certain what the fate of Mr. Tone's story will be. The text is a done deal, but I've only finished the one cover illustration (sadly, a tad washed out in the .jpg above). This was inspired by a comment of my own regarding Mac's presence in Kauffman Garden, found here... Also, there was a later, related post, found here.

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On the topic of book illustrations, and for another sort altogether, stop by Pink Tentacle and get a load of Tatsuya Morina's interpretations of some famous gothic horror tales, notably those of H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft!