Neddy and Little Roy Go To Town
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Hello, I’m Neddy. Every third Saturday of the month, my family picks up our cousin and we spend the day with him. His name is Little Roy. Little Roy is my mom’s first cousin, even though he’s the youngest one in his family. I don’t know how that makes him first but it doesn’t matter. He’s my cousin too. Everybody calls him Little Roy but it’s not because he’s small. In fact, he’s pretty big. We call him Little Roy because his dad is called Big Roy. I hope I explained that the right way. Hi, I’m Little Roy and this is my side of our story. Neddy and his family stop by every few weeks to take me on an adventure. Adventures are great because when you’re having one it means you’re having fun and doing new things or doing old things you already like. You just don’t know how they will happen, or when, or where. That’s what makes adventures so much fun. This Saturday was in the month of May which is one of my favorite months. I love May because the weather is much warmer than it is in the wintertime. I like winter too but I really like springtime because I like feeling the warm breeze on my face and in my hair. It’s a lot easier to get around in the warmer weather too. And I like it when the spring sun shines on me and fills me with a special glow. You should know that Neddy has a mom and a dad and a baby sister who live with him. His mom is Angie, his dad is Ted and his little sister is Catherine. Sometimes I call Catherine “the baby” or “Dee-Chi”. I call her Dee-Chi when she makes a noise that sounds like that. I call Neddy “pardner” or “buddy” or “little guy” or just Neddy. Or I’ll call him a name I make up. I love everyone in Neddy’s family but I really love spending time with Neddy. We’re best friends. During our special Saturdays with Little Roy, we usually stop for ice cream. Everyone loves ice cream, even Catherine. If you stop to think about it, have you ever met anyone who doesn’t like ice cream? My dad usually gets chocolate ice cream, my mom almost always gets butter pecan, Catherine gets French vanilla and I get one called blue moon. But Little Roy doesn’t always order the same thing. Instead, he tries a different ice cream flavor each time. He’ll order rocky road, or mint chip, or Neapolitan or cherry fudge chunk or whatever comes to his mind. After he finishes his ice cream, Little Roy takes out his notebook and gives the ice cream what he calls a “valuation”. He’ll give the ice cream anywhere from 1 to 10 stars depending on how well he likes it. 10 stars are the best and 1 star is the worst. Little Roy says he plans to give a valuation to every kind of ice cream in the world in his lifetime. That’s a lot of ice cream but if anyone can do it, Little Roy can. He’s a real nice guy but he’s real determined too. Also, Little Roy likes to give names to different things. He calls his notebook Trusty. He writes a lot of things in Trusty. Angie who is Neddy’s mom and Ted’s wife and my dad’s niece and my cousin, asked us if would like to run a little errand for her. She needed to mail a birthday package to her mom, who is Neddy’s grandma and my aunt and my dad’s sister and Ted’s mother-in-law. It’s amazing how one person can be so many things to other people isn’t it? Neddy said sure and I said, “Boy oh, boy yes.” I say boy oh boy sometimes. It could mean I’m happy or excited or disappointed or even mad, depending on how I say it. This time it meant I really wanted to help Angie with her errand. My Gram’s birthday is in early June. Mom wanted us to mail a birthday package to Gram at the post office. Dad said that by asking us to do this errand it meant they trusted us with Gram’s birthday present. He said that mailing the package was our responsibility. Responsibility is a big word which means you have something important to do and everyone is counting on you to do it right. It was our job to mail that package and that’s what Little Roy and I were going to do no matter what. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
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About the Book
Neddy is a small but precocious seven year old who wears sunglasses due to his light sensitive eyes. He and his larger than average size twelve year old cousin, Little Roy, are best friends who enjoy adventures together in their idyllic hometown. On a sunny day in May, they take a walk through downtown in order to mail a package containing a birthday present for Neddy’s grandmother. But when Neddy and Little Roy arrive at the post office they find that they have lost the package and have no idea how to locate it. Fortunately for the boys, one of the leading ladies of the town, Mrs. Mamie Mercer, comes to their rescue. The town is nearly turned upside down when Neddy and Little Roy, aided by Mrs. Mercer and friends, search for the missing package but during their adventure, the boys learn the importance of responsibility, teamwork and perseverance.
About the Author
Brian D. Brookover has had an interest in how children adapt to physical and mental challenges beginning early in life when he developed friendships with children possessing a variety of disabilities. Their optimism, generosity and humor, despite difficult circumstances, provided the inspiration for Neddy and Little Roy. As a husband and the father of three, he believes that children deserve to be surrounded by adults who guide and care for them as they grow. He was fortunate to benefit from wise and kind adults as a child; his parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents and other responsible and nurturing adults served as the inspiration for the adult characters in the book, particularly Mrs. Mercer. Mr. Brookover is also old enough to remember when young children regularly walked through small towns untroubled by many of today’s safety concerns. The setting for Neddy & Little Roy Go To Town is based on his recollections of thriving and welcoming downtowns, primarily in the Midwest. Finally, his interest in American idioms began early in life when he recognized the colloquial and often funny phrases people use to express themselves in conversation. By including idiomatic expressions in Neddy & Little Roy Go To Town, he hopes to introduce young readers to the humor and richness of American English. Brian D. Brookover has worked in the finance industry for more than two decades. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He lives with his wife and children in Chicago. This is his first children’s book.