Abby Barnaby has a passion for writing. She has a passion for acting and singing as well, but in this instance, her writing is taking center stage. Abby recently published her first book, a children’s book based on a personal experience.
The book is titled, “The Night the Toothfairy Didn’t Come.” It was inspired, of course, by a disappointing morning when Abby awoke to find her recently lost tooth still under her pillow.
“I was upset that theToothfairy had stood me up, so, I went crying to my mom, and she was like, ‘you know, just write about it’,” Abby said. “And so, I did.”
So 11-year-old Abby sat down to put her frustrations down in words. In the book, Abby’s mom has no explanation as to why the Toothfairy missed the tooth. How could she know? “Did she not love my tooth, I just have to know!” the Abby character exclaims. That’s where the book takes a turn from the reality.
The Abby character tosses about several theories as to why the Toothfairy did not come, wondering what trouble must have befallen her to interrupt her duties. Eventually, her concerns are answered the next day, when the Toothfairy does retrieve the tooth and leave a standard reward, along with a note of apology and explanation. In that explanation, is where Abby’s imagination came to use.
“What happened was, I wanted to come up with something that was totally not what you’d expect,” Abby said.
When she showed her parents, Randy and Melissa, the first draft, they loved it. Randy quickly had the idea to publish it. So, Abby began working on edits and re-writes, while Randy looked for information on how to publish a book. He found a graphic artist through Fivver.com who was able to do the illustrations and page design.
The end result was a 33-page illustrated book, not including title page and dedication page, etc. Her dedication page thanks her family for their help and support, as well as teachers at McGaugh Elementary for encouraging her to keep writing. She has two older siblings, brother Joshua, 14, and sister Ryah 13. Abby will be starting sixth grade at McAuliffe Middle School in the fall.
She loves to write fantasy and mystery stories, which are also what she loves reading the most. She’s also an aspiring actor and singer and has recently been cast as Charlie Bucket in an upcoming production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The show is a production of the Marina Youth Theatre group and will be at the Huntington Beach High Theater, Aug. 22-25. For more information on that production, visit marinayouththeatre.com.
