Bluebonnet of the Hill Country
It was the summer of 1982. MBC had been given the gift of an idea from her mother-in-law, Dede Casad. “Why don’t you create an armadillo character just for kids? You could write a series of books about this armadillo traveling to different Texas landmarks, teaching Texas history.”
MBC thought that was a pretty good idea. A few weeks later, as she and her husband Vic and their one-year-old son McCrae were walking on the shores of Lake Bridgeport, an armadillo came up to MBC, stood on its hind legs and sniffed, then wandered off. MBC took that to be a sign! She should write about armadillos!
She returned home (at that time she lived in Grand Prairie), went to the public library and began researching armadillos. She also thought about her first encounters with armadillos as a child in the Texas Hill Country, where she attended Camp Waldemar for seven summers. Plus, as she liked to say, she just used her imagination.
So, an armadillo character began to emerge, with her blue sunbonnet as a trademark, named Bluebonnet (suggested by Dede and Vic). MBC enlisted the help of elementary teachers Ben and Juddi Gilmore, and Joan Dobson of the Grand Prairie Public Library. She finished the manuscript on her birthday, September 15. So it became my birthday, too!
“Bluebonnet of the Hill Country” was published by Eakin Press in June of 1983, a month after MBC’s son Carter was born. Pat Binder of Plano created the illustrations.
This story introduces my Mommadillo and Daddidillo and my three sisters Normadillo, Irmadillo and Arvilladillo (if you want to know why I have three sisters, you’ll need to read the book!). It teaches lots of facts about my Hill Country home and armadillos. The story reveals how I got my trademark sunbonnet, and of my desire to go to summer camp.
When Eakin Press was sold several years ago, this book went out of print. Last year, MBC tweaked the story and gave it a new title, “Bluebonnet of the Texas Hill Country.” Eakin Press published the book in April, 2016, with Benjamin Vincent’s illustrations.
Bluebonnet of the Texas Hill Country
So today, MBC and I are both celebrating birthdays…..35 years is pretty significant for me! As MBC frequently says, the best thing about being a story book character is immortality! I’m forever young!
MBC and I are grateful for these years together, our wonderful adventures and the amazing friends we’ve made. Thanks for a wonderful idea, Dede!
To all of our Bluebonnet Armadillo Adventure series readers……..have a dilly of a day! Bluebonnet Armadillo
