ANSONIA – Laurie LeBouthillier, the principal at Emmett O’Brien Technical High School, recently penned her first children’s book, “William T-Rex and His Fishing Adventures.”
And her no. 1 inspiration for the book? Her 4-year-old grandson, William Anderson, who loves dinosaurs and fishing.
“It all started when I would babysit my grandson, William,” LeBouthillier said. “He would say, Nani, tell me a story. We would make up stories about his biggest obsession – dinosaurs – especially the T-Rex.”
Here is a bit of the plot description from Amazon:
“William T-Rex and His Fishing Adventure is an inspiring story about a clever Tyrannosaurus rex named William, his brother Nathan and their cousins Ella and Lina. The four of them travel to their favorite fishing hole, only to discover that they forgot their fishing poles.”
As you might’ve guessed, ‘William T-Rex’ is named after grandson William – and “Nathan” is named after William’s real life brother. Their two cousins are Ella, 9 and Lina, 4.
LeBouthillier said William helped her come up with the story. It started as a story she’d tell to William, who added twists and turns.
Then LeBouthillier put it down on paper. She ran it by some friends who gave the story rave reviews. She decided to self-publish through Amazon. The first few copies were published right before Christmas last year, and LeBouthillier surprised William and his cousins with a copy.
The 25-page story is filled with colorful illustrations of four dinosaur pals fishing, playing and learning about teamwork and friendship. Elizabeth Strucaly-Dudley, who works with LeBouthillier at EOB as the school’s art instructor, did the book’s artwork.
William, himself, gave the book a T-Rex sized thumbs up.
“I was happy to see myself in my Nani’s book, and I liked seeing myself sticking my tail in the water to catch fish,” William said. “They bite and chomp meat. Other kids will love reading the book because dinosaurs are cool.”
LeBouthillier, who has been EOB’s principal for the past 16 years, said she never caught the writing bug until she became a grandma.
“Writing is not my strong suit and honestly was never my favorite thing to do, but I do it because it’s a great thing for the grandkids,” she said.
LeBouthillier, 61, is already working on her second children’s book, inspired by her childhood growing up in Italy. “Carolina’s Pocketbook” is centered around a little girl leaving Italy to move to the U.S. She is given a pocketbook from her Nonna that symbolizes comfort, memories and hope, according to LeBouthillier, who moved to the U.S. in 1970.
LeBouthillier and her husband Keith reside in Clinton. They have two grown children. Amanda and Keith, Jr.
“William T-Rex and His Fishing Adventures” is available on Amazon.