My Fans!

My good friend from Pennsylvania, Christine, sent me this photo from Christmas morning of her kids opening up their present of a bunch of Jake Maddox books I have drawn.

I usually get five copies of each book I illustrate and keep a couple of them for myself while trying to find friends with kids who I think would enjoy them for the rest. And it seems at Christine's house that the books have gone over big. I've sent her books in the past and the kids really seemed to love them.

So, for Christmas I took a batch of the newest books I've done, signed them, and sent them out to Pennsylvania. And it looks like the kids still love them and love what I do.

When I visited Christine and her husband a few years ago and met her kids in person for the first time I felt like royalty entering the house. The two phrases I remember best are these:

When I was first coming into the house and the kids were being put down for bed, they were all trying to sneak out of bed and get a look at this man who draws cartoons for a living. They were generally excited to meet this person who did this for a living. Christine yelled up at them, "he's just a man, just like Daddy!" I'm sure, to a kid, someone who draws cartoons for a living must seem like they are from Mars.

And second, when I got to meet the kids the next morning over breakfast, the oldest one asked me, with all the earnestness of a nine year old boy, "how is it that you got to be so famous?"

How is that not the best thing you could ever hear about your life and the career you've chosen.

So, I may not have a lot of them, but because of a few kids and parents here and there, I have the best fans in the world!