The Striped Dog ©

“Inspired by his adventure books, young Gerald takes to the woods in search of discovery. To his surprise, he stumbles upon a creature thought to be extinct for decades. Gerald’s rediscovery could launch his dream of becoming a famous explorer, but at what cost to the creature?

With a theme of conservation and original art by Ian Smith, “The Striped Dog” celebrates the wonder of being outdoors, and challenges readers to consider the cost of our actions on the environment and the wildlife around us.”

This is the summary of my upcoming children’s book, “The Striped Dog.” The thrill of discovery and interaction with rare wildlife has always been something I’ve chased. For kids raised in a generation of smart phones and ultra-realistic video games, the natural world may seem dull, so I hope stories like this can restore a sense of wonder. You never know what you can discover, or in this case, re-discover, by venturing into your own backyard.

A sincere “thank you” to all of you who have already invested in this project. I’m finishing the illustrations, but since so many of you have already donated, here are a couple of teaser photos of some of my initial sketches. The main character spots a creature he doesn’t recognize from his wildlife books, so he attempts to sketch it. Here is a page from the journal of our young explorer documenting the features of his discovery:

Trust me, my illustrations are going to be better than those of my eight-year-old protagonist (but not much better)

If you haven’t already pre-ordered your $10 E-book, I am making the Australian Wildfire Relief donation on March 29th. As a reminder, 20% of proceeds from all E-book purchases from now until that date will be donated to Australian Wildlife Relief. I’ll be posting updates as the project progresses, and when the hardcover is ready, I hope you’ll all continue to support!

-Ian

My initial sketch of our young explorer heading into the woods.