Moorestown resident writes children’s book “You Look Great!”
What literally started out as a dream in 2005 became a reality last October for Robert Wolff of Moorestown. Back in 2005, Wolff had a dream about animals that each had something about themselves they didn’t like. He immediately formulated a manuscript for a book based on his dream, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Wolff devoted serious time to the idea.
Now a reality, Wolff has his children’s book “You Look Great!” ready and available for purchase. The book features colorful illustrations by Canadian Denis Proulx that offer lessons about the seasons, months, counting, animals and more.
“You Look Great!” is about animals that encounter each other throughout the year and confess what they don’t like about themselves; however, the other animals encourage the dejected animal that what he or she doesn’t like about himself or herself is something the other animals do like, teaching the lesson that what someone might see as a problem really isn’t one.
“It’s something that everyone living has to overcome, something personal, professional, physical or emotional. All of us need someone to make us feel good about ourselves,” Wolff said.
Wolff is not a professional writer. He has not done anything like this before.
“I’ve always enjoyed putting down words to paper. My children would testify to that. I would always write them notes. It’s a nice way to communicate. The written word is powerful,” Wolff said.
When he had his dream, he knew he wanted to do something with it, to communicate this bigger message for children by using animals in a meaningful way. However, it wasn’t until 2013 that Wolff really devoted time to the book. He found CreateSpace to help get his work published and sought out an illustrator on his own using the Internet. Wolff communicated and worked with Proulx all online.
“Dennis, he did a phenomenal job. I get as many compliments about the illustrations as I do the storyline,” Wolff said.
Wolff expressed that was the most gratifying part of making the book, “hearing people’s reactions make it worth all of the work involved. It leaves an incredibly warm feeling in my heart.”
According to Wolff, there is a lot of work involved. He had to go over the manuscript at least 300 to 400 times, trying different words and sentences to see what sounded right or better. He also had a lot of back and forth with Proulx, working on the illustrations and how they would look within the book.
“At the end of the day, I am very proud of it and that it came out the way I wanted it to,” Wolff said.
Another hard part for Wolff was keeping this book a secret from his family. He didn’t want anyone to know until it was published, so he could surprise his family with the finished project. According to Wolff, his wife was very supportive, and his children, Christine and Kathleen, to whom he devoted the book, loved it.
Wolff hopes those who read the book will get a positive message that they can reflect on from time to time and perhaps apply that message in their life.
“It’s all about what you do to make the world a little better,” Wolff said.
“You Look Great!” is available online at Amazon.com as well as at Barnes & Noble online. According to Wolff, the book would be great to read to young children for the wonderful illustrations and up until 6 or 7 years old, maybe even older.
As of now, Wolff has no plans to write another book, but he did say “you never know. Maybe I’ll catch the bug again.”
Editor’s Note: In the paper edition of this article Wolff’s children were listed as Kristen and Kathleen. His children’s names are Christine and Kathleen. This article has been edited to reflect this change.
