BY CRYSTAL PUGSLEY
Listening to the laughter of children is a sound that helped inspire Dolly Venable’s newest children’s book, “Just To See You Smile,” available on Amazon beginning March 25.
“It’s another one of those books that I had started writing years ago,” said Venables, who lives in Huron with her husband, Gary.
“Just To See You Smile” is her third children’s books, following publication of the award-winning “This Thing Called Kindergarten” in 2023 and “Pester Lester the Mischievous Moose” released in 2024.
Her latest book is dedicated to her daughter, Chelsea Husum, who lives in Castlerock, Colo. The book, composed of rhyming phrases, looks at all the things a mother will do to coax a smile from her child.
Each rhyme ends with the phrase: “Just to see you smile.”
Filled with playful tongue twisters and laugh-out-loud moments, this book is designed to be read aloud. There’s no limit to what this playful mom will do to hear her daughter’s sweet laughter and see the sparkle of excitement in her big brown eyes.
Whether it’s going bumpety, bumpety bump on a camel with just one hump or dancing with a bear wearing pink polka-dotted underwear, each wacky adventure ends with the refrain “Just to see you smile,” inviting young readers to join in and anticipate every silly surprise.
“I think this is going to be such a good read-along book for kids to chime in ‘just to see you smile’ at the end of every phrase,” Venables said. “I remember reading to kids at Washington Elementary when I worked in the library, and if you said things like polka-dotted underwear, they would just giggle and giggle.
“Nothing compares to the feeling of seeing our children truly happy and fulfilled,” she added.
Her first book was dedicated to former kindergarten teacher Diane Swisher, who died of cancer on Nov. 8, 2009, and her second book was dedicated to her father, Lester.
While her first book was published through Landon Hale Press, Venables and her illustrator Stephen Riggins of Cambridge, Iowa, have worked together to self-publish her last two children’s books.
“About 27 years ago I had the drafts for the three kids’ books written, but at the time I had no idea how of the process or how many pages a children’s book should have,” she said. “Once I hired my publisher, she guided and directed me.”
Venables said self-publishing has been a lot of work but also fulfilling. She submitted each story to Riggins, who would compile a dozen or more illustrations once a month for her to pick out what elements she wanted on each page.
“I’ve been thrilled with his illustrations, all three books,” Venables said. “I can’t imagine going anywhere else or going through any other illustrator. He just is so fabulous.”
Once all the illustrations are in order, Riggins creates the cover and Venables writes the dedication page, letter to readers and a back page summary.
“Then we start piecing it all together,” she said. “It’s a slow process, but we eventually get there. Right now, he is uploading the E-book cover and manuscript.”
Now that the three children’s books she penned years ago are in print, Venables said she will go back to working on her memoir, “Cancer: A Journey, Not an Event,” where she shares her personal journey with breast cancer. Her hope is that this book will help others to heal as well as herself.
“I want to finish that,” Venables said. “It’s very difficult. That’s why I decided to take a break and finish ‘Just To See You Smile.’ When you’re dealing with something as heavy as cancer, it’s consuming. It’s nice to walk away from it for awhile and get your thoughts in order.”
Venables will be joining other authors for a “Find Your Joy” Book and Author Fair planned Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. at Huron Public Library. Venables is scheduled to speak at 12:40 p.m.
Leave a Reply