First ever children's book written about the Camino

[Ruth Duplisea]

My book, The Adventures of Bedbug, is now available at www.bedbugsbigadventure.com. It is the first ever book written for children about the Camino.

In 2012, I walked the Camino from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago and then on out to Finisterre and Muxia.

In May of this year, I gave a talk at my church about my spiritual journey along the pilgrimage. The talk is called “A Pilgrim’s Quest” and can be viewed on my blog at blog.ruthwelburncamino.com

At the time, I was asked to provide a children’s book for story time. I searched, but was not able to find a book written for children about the Camino—or any other pilgrimage for that matter. So I had to write one.

The story, along with illustrations made from the photos I took along the way, is now in printed copy.

Buen Camino

Ruth Welburn

 

[camino07]

Looks good but can we buy from Australia

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Looks good but can we buy from Australia

Yes, for sure. I will find out from the post office tomorrow how much the postage will be and how long it takes to get there and let you know. The book is $14.99 CDN plus cost of shipping. What is your postal code or city? Once I get the cost of shipping to Australia, you can just go to my website www.bedbugsbigadventure.com and go to the store page and order the book. I will ship it to you.

 

[camino07]

Ok thanks.My postal code is 6164 in Western Australia.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Ok thanks.My postal code is 6164 in Western Australia.

Hi, It will cost $8 Cdn to mail the book to you. If you wish to order one, just add $4.50 to the price when you enter the price of the book on the website. (This is because it will only charge you $3.50 for shipping and handling) So you would enter $19.49 for the cost of the book) I'm in the process of setting PayPal up to calculate different shipping costs to different countries.
If there is enough of a market from Australia, I will look into finding a distributer there and a company that would print the book in Australia. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Congratulations on your achievement! And best of luck!

But always be careful about the "first ever" title... it brings out pests like me with books in hand!
There IS a kids´ picture book out there about the Camino, written from the point of view of a little swallow. "The Flying Pilgrim" by Lawrence Schimel ( ISBN 8480039086) seems like it lifted large portions of text from a tourist office pamphlet, but I think children are most interested in the pictures anyway.
It was published a couple of years ago by Ediciones Aldeasa, in English and Castellano.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Congratulations on your achievement! And best of luck!

But always be careful about the "first ever" title... it brings out pests like me with books in hand!
There IS a kids´ picture book out there about the Camino, written from the point of view of a little swallow. "The Flying Pilgrim" by Lawrence Schimel ( ISBN 8480039086) seems like it lifted large portions of text from a tourist office pamphlet, but I think children are most interested in the pictures anyway.
It was published a couple of years ago by Ediciones Aldeasa, in English and Castellano.

Thanks Rebekah for this information. Since I posted the announcement as "the first book ever written about the Camino for children," I have also heard that "there are a few books about St James and the Camino written specifically for children, but mostly in Spanish and French." I guess if I had known about Schimel's book back in May, when I gave the story to the children in story time at the church, I probably would not have written Bedbug's Big Adventure. The book was a lot of fun to write, and I'm glad the book has some company, although not much.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I LOVE the idea of having a bedbug for a protagonist! They get so much punishment around here!

 

[Busybee]

I would like one too please and am in western Australia - not far from Heather so will add $8 to the order will put the order in tomorrow when I am on my laptop (rather than my phone) thanks

 

[annakappa]

Congratulations on your achievement! And best of luck!

But always be careful about the "first ever" title... it brings out pests like me with books in hand!
There IS a kids´ picture book out there about the Camino, written from the point of view of a little swallow. "The Flying Pilgrim" by Lawrence Schimel ( ISBN 8480039086) seems like it lifted large portions of text from a tourist office pamphlet, but I think children are most interested in the pictures anyway.
It was published a couple of years ago by Ediciones Aldeasa, in English and Castellano.

Yes, I bought this book a couple of years ago ( Spanish edition). Both my youngest grandchildren love the story, maybe because we are always talking to them about the Camino. Last week little Mattias took it to his kindergarten to be read aloud to his class.
This October, when I was in Santiago, I looked for something else for them, but didn't come up with anything.
Like the idea of the bed bug story! Anne

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Thank you for your comment. I had a lot of fun with the idea of Bedbug as the main character. And he is just that, a character. He is not an insect in the story, he is a happy friendly little guy who wants to go on a journey. I sometimes get the reaction of "Arggggg" at the mention of Bedbug's name, but mostly people seem to find the idea fun.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

I would like one too please and am in western Australia - not far from Heather so will add $8 to the order will put the order in tomorrow when I am on my laptop (rather than my phone) thanks

I look forward to your order and will get it in the mail within one day.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

I LOVE the idea of having a bedbug for a protagonist! They get so much punishment around here!

Thank you for your comment. It's so nice to see people warming to the concept of Bedbug as the happy friendly little character that I tried to create. There are lots of other animals that are not so cuddly, that have been accepted as lovable characters, so why not Bedbug. As I mentioned in an early post, Bedbug is not an insect in the book, he is a character. He's just a happy friendly little guy who wants to go on an adventure and see the world. I hope people have fun with him.

 

[Busybee]

Love the book. My teenager (who walked the camino when she was 11) read it to my little kids and they all love Bedbug thanks

 

[Sheffield James]

Ruth, I've just ordered a copy to be sent to me here in the UK. I think I've paid the correct postage via PayPal, but I'd welcome a PM if this isn't the case. I do hope you can get it to me in time for Christmas.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Love the book. My teenager (who walked the camino when she was 11) read it to my little kids and they all love Bedbug thanks

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Love the book. My teenager (who walked the camino when she was 11) read it to my little kids and they all love Bedbug thanks

Thanks for this comment, Busybee. It is good to hear that even teenagers relate to Bedbug.

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Ruth, I've just ordered a copy to be sent to me here in the UK. I think I've paid the correct postage via PayPal, but I'd welcome a PM if this isn't the case. I do hope you can get it to me in time for Christmas.

Hi James,
Thank you for your order, and as I mentioned in the email, you should definitely get it by Christmas. The woman at the post office said you should get it within the week.
Welcome any feedback you care to share.

 

[Sheffield James]

Ruth, your lovely book arrived today. I am delighted with it and I can't wait to give it to one of my nephews/nieces at Christmas. Just as you said in the dedication to your grandchildren at the front of the book, I hope it will plant a seed of interest/longing for a pilgrimage experience that will bear fruit for the next generation of my family in the years to come.

James

 

[Ruth Duplisea]

Ruth, your lovely book arrived today. I am delighted with it and I can't wait to give it to one of my nephews/nieces at Christmas. Just as you said in the dedication to your grandchildren at the front of the book, I hope it will plant a seed of interest/longing for a pilgrimage experience that will bear fruit for the next generation of my family in the years to come.

James

Thanks for this lovely comments. Also, it is nice to hear that it only took 4 business days to mail the book from Canada to the UK.