Unlikely friends: Empathy and acceptance themes in new book by Northport High School grad
Mike and Carolyn Watson Dubisch (inset), a Northport High School graduate and author currently living in Mexico. The Dubisches are currently hosting their latest project, the children’s book “The Elephant and the Teapot are Friends,” on Kickstarter.
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Author and former Northport resident Carolyn Watson Dubisch has been writing and drawing children’s books since 2001. A Northport High School graduate, Dubisch is the award-winning author of “Dragon Stones,” “Alien Farm,” and 15 other children’s books. She also has four comic book series for kids that she writes and illustrates.
According to a 2002 article in The Long Islander’s Record, some of Dubisch’s first artistic inspirations came from Doris Roe, her art teacher at Northport High School. Roe helped Dubisch get a scholarship to the School of Visual Arts, where she worked under the guidance of Jane Breskin Zalben, author and illustrator of over 50 children's books.
She told the Journal her creative writing teacher at Northport High School was also a huge inspiration: “It was after reading my essay aloud to the class that she stopped and said, ‘Carolyn, you could be a professional writer someday, this is excellent,” Dubisch recalled. “Her words have stayed with me for over 30 years. Teachers have such power over our lives.”
Dubisch and her artist/illustrator husband Mike, of the Boxcar Children comic books, are currently running a Kickstarter for their new picture book for young children, “The Elephant and the Teapot are Friends.” Set in India, the book is a tale of two unlikely friends and not only a story of friendship, but a celebration of the unique qualities that each individual brings to their relationship.
The Kickstarter is guaranteeing delivery for the book and a special coloring book version by December. Rewards include some of Dubisch’s other books as well as a puzzle featuring all the characters in “The Elephant and the Teapot are Friends” having tea.
Dubisch’s writing has also appeared in Highlights for Children Magazine, Hopscotch Magazine and Whimsy Magazine for kids. Some of her books include “The Lighthouse Cats of Mazatlán,” “Andy and the Flying Toaster Tangerine” and “Jabberwocky.”
Mike Dubisch has been illustrating children’s books since 2007 and his art has appeared in many tabletop role-playing game books from Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. He also draws “The People That Melt in the Rain,” a series of graphic novels for young adults written by Carolyn.
Dubisch’s father sold the family home in Northport in 1992 but for many years Dubisch would return to her grandparents home on Scudder Avenue; she and Mike even married in their rose garden. The couple has three children and currently live in a house by the beach in Mazatlán, Mexico, where Dubisch teaches art at a local bilingual primary school.
View a trailer for “The Elephant and the Teapot are Friends” here. Donate to the Kickstarter for the book here. An anonymous sponsor is currently matching all the books that get pre-ordered with an equal book donation to the Children’s Book Project in San Francisco.
