Thomas Lehrich talks about the Backpacker Billy and Shave series
Thomas Lehrich while in college and law school was already writing stories about backpacking trips as a young student. His classmates had no idea he was sketching out stories-after each trip and wilderness hike. Tom created Backpacker Billy and his dog Shave as the central characters in a book series that features animals and adventure. We spoke with Tom about his newest book in The Adventures of Backpacker Billy and Shave, series which has been highlighted in the public television show the Writer’s Block as well as climbing the ranks on Amazon for children’s adventure books. Thank you, Tom, for sharing more about your drive in creating this book and the experiences that led to its publication.
What inspired you to begin writing children’s books?
My inspiration was to bring nature together with travel using young adventurers. I became a natural storyteller for my children, particularly at sleep time when we would read to them. I noticed they liked the storytelling about places I visited. The imagination ran from there to the series I had started years before. My kids were surprised to learn that for years I had written about my trips and created characters that met up and talked to animals. My first story was about an owl in the old-growth forest, and Backpacker Billy meets the owl during his hike. We waited to publish the story later in the series and it is the Utah book just released. The book about Zion National Park and owls is a captivating story.
What is your connection with the illustrator, and how do you work together to bring the story to life?
An illustrator that can visualize the character and author’s arc for the story and bring it to life is the magic. Brody Cohen, the illustrator is young and was a student, and we both were doing a publication for the first time. He is an extremely talented and versatile artist. The best advice I received on completing the illustrations for the characters I developed was from a Boston University classmate Mark Swirsky. He said, “ Tom, I know you, you have a vision of how the characters will look, including the animal and plant color and style. You need to share artistically the vision with the illustrator and create it together.”
Once I did that, the allowing perspective in the drawings made it a success and, most important, the ability to finish the book.
How did the idea and creation of Backpacker Billy and his dog Shave begin?
Backpacker Billy is the adventure and journey in all of us. In the book, we bring readers to nature and take the reader on a journey to learn about animal species and plants. And something fun happens for our young readers during the journey—like a volcano erupting. The children are brought through a story where Backpacker Billy meets an animal from nature, and the reader learns and connects with the animal and the environment.
Some background. At an early age, I backpacked with my cousin just the two of us, as kids. Our first overnight backpacking trip was young all by ourselves. Imagine that! As kids, we would outfit all the gear for multi-day backpacking trips, and my parents would drop us off at the trailhead and pick us up later at a spot off the Appalachian Trail. Those trips took us to the Appalachian Trail and the Adirondack Mountains and created a passion for me as a young explorer. Shave is a special dog. He is a friendly and happy dog that is up for anything and gets along well with all forms of wildlife.
What is next for Backpacker Billy?
We will continue to bring the series to readers. The story we published about Puget Sound and Seattle, and a unique pod of Orca Whales called the southern pod was fun. The southern pod of Orcas is one of the few that exists south of the arctic circle. We have a book coming out in the spring on Boston and New England whales. And we are testing a new book written on space travel.
How can our readers find the Utah spotted owl book and support the series? And lastly, what is Shave’s favorite food?
Backpacker Billy is available in book stores and with Amazon Books. I also donate volumes to local libraries so readers can enjoy reading and sharing the story with a child, grandchild, or friend.
Share the journey with the Backpacker Billy and Shave in all of us.
