Wife’s faith in writer’s ability proves prophetic

Flip Wilson is famous for saying the devil made him do it. Peter J. Welling, local author of a popular series of children’s holiday-themed picture books, could say that his wife, Darlene, made him do it.

	Peter J. Welling, author

“Darlene believed in me, and that’s how I became a stay-at-home dad who writes children’s picture books,” Welling said. “Her faith in me as a writer has been unfailing.”

Children’s picture books weren’t part of the Wellings’ original plan. When they married 16 years ago, Darlene offered to work while Peter stayed home with their sons writing the Great American Novel.

“Darlene thought of me as a writer almost before I saw myself as one,” Welling added.

The novel hasn’t found a publisher yet, despite admiring responses from a number of editors. But while he was searching for a publisher, another suggestion turned Welling toward children’s picture books.

“I’d been drawing elaborate and amusing cartoons on my sons’ brown lunch bags for ages,” Welling recalled. “Our youngest son’s first-grade teacher made me see the possibilities beyond amusing my kids and their friends.”

That perceptive teacher noticed how much the kids enjoyed the cartoons — and the history lessons captured in them. She encouraged Welling, who spent hours as a volunteer in his sons’ classes, to put some of the great stories that amused the kids into a picture book format. Although the idea seemed far-fetched at first, Welling was discouraged by the responses to his first novel and decided to try it.

“I hadn’t thought of my writing and my kids’ drawings as connected, so it took that little nudge to write my first story book, which is called ‘Andrew McGroundhog and His Shady Shadow,’” Welling said.

The book is named for his youngest son, Andrew, whose teacher was so insightful.

With the help of an agent, Welling landed a contract with Pelican Publishing Company of Gretna, La. He’s produced at least one story a year since the first one, and his goal is to complete at least a dozen stories related to holidays and history.

Although the stories revolve around specific holidays — the Groundhog’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and April Fools’ Day books are in print, with the Memorial Day and Labor Day books in production — there’s a liberal dose of history and foreign cultural information thrown in. Humorous illustrations captivate young readers, and parents will be relieved to find that the visual puns make reading and re-reading the stories entertaining.

Welling illustrates holidays that aren’t often explained in books geared to young readers. He starts each book with research into the myths and legends surrounding the holiday, and then creates characters that represent aspects of the holiday or culture behind it.

The first four books feature characters named for the couple’s four sons: Andrew, Shawn, Michael and Justin. Each book has a cultural and historical focus as well, with the names matched to the countries: Scotland, Ireland, France and Russia.

“I like to include foreign terms in the stories, so each book has a glossary for young readers to learn the unfamiliar words,” Welling said. “I never talk down to my readers, either in the text or the drawings.”

Avoiding what Welling calls “the sugary sweet stuff” has been a hit with young readers, who post enthusiastic fan letters in his online chat room.

Welling’s books are full of challenges that engage young readers and the people who read stories to them. For example, the Labor Day book he’s working on tells the story of labor and management, with the “fat cats” in charge of production and various other kinds of cats as the laborers. Because children aren’t familiar with clichés like “fat cats,” using the term means both explaining it and poking fun at it.

Welling admits that he was always a storyteller. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, he went to college on the G.I. Bill, where he discovered that he could write as well as tell stories. He grew up in a house with artisans — for example, his father worked as a craftsman in the painting department at Notre Dame — so drawing was in his blood from a young age. But it took his wife and his youngest son’s teacher to put it all together.

Making a living as a full-time writer is a challenge, especially when you publish just one picture book a year. Welling keeps busy writing young-adult mystery and fantasy books, illustrating magazines and books for other authors, and working on another novel. He also continues to volunteer at his son’s school.

This fall Welling is sharing his knowledge in a course called “Creating a Children’s Picture Book” through the IUPUI Community Learning Network. Welling also teaches a popular elementary school workshop on how to write a page in a picture book, which motivates students to read and write their own stories.

As a writer, Welling was inspired early on by TV characters such as Jessica Fletcher in “Murder She Wrote.” Although he’s yet to ride in a limousine to visit his publisher or receive a six-figure advance for a book, Welling considers himself fortunate to be a full-time writer.