Local author pens new children's book

“We are glad kitty walked out of the woods and into my heart.”

Elizabeth Franks has been an animal lover and a writer for many years. This is what led her to write and self-publish her second children’s book “Kitty in the Woods”.

Franks, a resident of Scott City, said she feels she was given this book idea to write from God. She said it came in the form of a poem she then turned into a book.

Silvercloud, the basis for Elizabeth Franks’ children’s book “Kitty in the Woods”.Submitted

The children’s book is based on her cat, Silvercloud, who walked out of her woods to her house years ago. The book follows the cat as she navigates her way from being lost to having a party with those she meets along the way. In the book, she meets a fairy who shows her the way to a house where she will be safe and loved.

Franks said she put herself in this book as the good fairy as a way to give a lesson to those who may read her book.

“Just take care of animals. I mean, don’t let them go hungry. If there’s an animal that comes to your home, you know, even if you can’t keep it, you should feed it and call someone you know or call the vet. Don’t let it be hungry,” Franks said.

Franks has three cats — Ringo, Leo and Silvercloud. She said each of these cats was adopted in a sort of way — one she gave treats and he never left; another was dumped at her house on Mother’s Day; and Silvercloud simply appeared one day.

While this is her second self-published and illustrated book, she never planned to do a second one. However, with her son looking to start a family, she wanted to make a book for her future grandbaby to have.

“I just enjoy doing it. I just enjoy writing. It’s not something that I can just do. I can’t just say, ‘I’m gonna write a poem’, and write it. It’s something that I feel like God gives me. It just pops in my head, and I have to write it. It just comes to me, and it doesn’t happen often. Like I could never be a big writer, like, you know, the minds of people because I just don’t have it in my head,” Franks said.

Franks said she has not started selling her books to the public, but has had friends and family buy many of them. She will start selling “Kitty in the Woods” on eBay soon. Proceeds from the book go to Cat Rescue. Each book is $10.