Luna the Moon Pig

Book excerpt: All About Luna The Moon Pig - The Pig Who Hid. A Family Tale of Caring, Sharing, Rejection, Hope, Fun, Adventure, Happiness, Sadness, Love, Magic and Self Discovery. Dedicated to Families of Piggies and People Worldwide Luna Moon Pig is the cutest of pigs, with a moon face, chocolate-drop eyes, and the wiggliest of tails. The Millers adopt her, and give her to their daughter, Maria. But Moon Pig longs for her freedom, and she soon escapes! A friendly cardinal bird, and a wise owl accompany her on her adventure - a magical journey to a wild wood, and beyond. When Luna returns to her surrogate family, something is different! How has she changed? Who did she meet? She has made a discovery, and has a new philosophy about life! What she knows now will change her life, for good! This is a fairy tale for all ages, that tells of a kind of magic - the magic of self-belief! Luna The Moon Pig - a fairy-tale that came from real life! One day, author Suzy Davies was standing on the back porch step in the back yard of her house in Florida, taking in the evening sunset, when she saw a little black animal creep out from under the bushes! At first, Suzy thought it was one of the cats who lived in the neighborhood. But this animal did not move like a cat. It kept its nose to the ground, and rustled through leaves. It didn't sound like a cat, either. It made a squeaking sound! Suzy slowly approached the small animal, and to her surprise, it was a piggy! Sure enough, this little piggy was very shy, and when she saw Suzy, off she trotted! That same evening, Suzy put out lettuce and water for the her. She tried to make sure the piggy was fed and watered. The piggy was sighted for several days and nights. Suzy took notes as she observed her antics from the back window. Very quickly, Suzy came to realize that this cute shy piggy was a nocturnal animal. She liked to hide away from people, under the cover of the dark. Little did the piggy know how visible she was under the light of the Harvest Moon! At last, the runaway piggy was captured by a neighbour and returned to her owners to make a real life fairy-tale ending. Suzy could never forget the little piggy. "Ah, Luna, ...." Suzy thought, and the name fitted the lovable piggy very well. Suzy knew she had the seed of an idea for a children's book, and she set to work. When the first draft of her story was complete, she wondered who might be the best illustrator for her Luna piggy tale. Abracadabra! One person - and one person only - came to mind, Sheila Graber, the award-winning world-acclaimed animator for "Paddington Bear" and animator/illustrator for Kipling's "Just So" stories, who Suzy knew had an empathy for animals and animal tales. Suzy sent off an email to Sheila just to ask Sheila what she thought of her story. Suzy hoped Sheila would enjoy it, and enjoy it - Sheila did! Author and illustrator decided to collaborate on Luna's story "just for fun" and fully immersed themselves, day by day, in the creation of a book. Sheila enlisted the help of a real family to act as models for The Millers in her stunning rotoscoped cartoon-style drawings based on reality, which range from Whimsical to Wonderful! Sheila also dreamed up a special name - Moonwishes Magic - for Suzy's notion of making wishes under the light of a glowing moon. This magic seemed to touch everything the two collaborators did together, with text and images falling into place to make this enchanting tale a dream come true! Sheila read Luna The Moon Pig aloud to 6 year old Henry, who enjoyed the book so much that Sheila and Suzy decided this piggy tale was a tale to be shared. And here it is for everyone - children and adults - to enjoy!