Lumpito And The Painter From Spain

Lumpito And The Painter From Spain  

By Monica Kulling

Take one look at those eyes and you are drawn right into this charming tail of a dog who finds his forever home with famous artist, Pablo Picasso. This is a clever little story that focuses on the journey of an adorable dachshund while introducing children to a renowned artist in the process.

 "Lump" begins his life with photographer, David Douglas Duncan, in Italy and although he has a good life there, it could be better without "Big Dog" who takes charge and bullies Lump on a daily basis. David decides to take Lump to the South of France with him when he visits Picasso and it is soon evident that this is the home for him.

Along with the relationship that is growing with Picasso, Lumpito - as he is soon nicknamed- also delights in his newfound friendship with Picasso's big but friendly dog Yan and goat, Esmeralda.

Ultimately, Lumpito is invited to stay for good and the adoration Picasso had for this lovely Doxie is apparent in real life as he is included in several of his works of art.

Dean Griffiths' watercolor and pencil illustrations compliment the story well and captures the warmth and spirit of Lumpito which makes the story all that more engaging.

I love stories that weave fact with fiction and Monica Kulling seems to do this effortlessly. I asked her if she would share her process and how this lovely story of Lumpito came into being.

Meeting Lumpito

I’ve long been fond of writing poems based on paintings. I like the challenge of finding words that resemble the mood and effect that a particular painting conveys. In fact, my first sale was a poem based on a painting by the British Columbian artist, Emily Carr.

I met Lump, the dachshund whose name means “rascal” in German, when I turned to writing some poems about Pablo Picasso’s life and works. I’m not a huge Picasso fan, so it was an odd choice. Perhaps I was hoping his passionate approach to creativity might infect my own work.

While researching, I came across the story of photojournalist David Douglas Duncan’s trip to Cannes. He was on assignment to take photos of Picasso for Life Magazine. I was smitten with Lump and quickly bought Duncan’s book Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund’s Odyssey, which chronicles the visit in photos and text. I knew the story was wonderful picture-book material and thought children would identify with the small dog, renamed “Lumpito” by Picasso.

Weaving truth and fiction seems to be what I’m doing a lot of these days, so that part comes relatively easily for me. I begin with all the facts, choosing those that pertain to my story’s focus — those that I think kids would find most fascinating. In bringing historical characters to life, I use the same techniques one uses to give life to made-up characters — action and dialogue, humor when you can, and of course, insight into motivation. It’s difficult to fail when your main character is a dachshund as adorable as Lumpito.

This is a heartwarming, quiet story that will interest young readers as well as fit nicely into an art teacher's curriculum.  A cute dog and an introduction to a unique artist...what more can you ask for?  

Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity

Being a dog lover and anything food related, I was happy to get my hands on  Monica Kulling's Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity. This is the second book with the well mannered mixed breed, Mister Dash, who lives a "civilized" life with his owner, Madam Croissant.  In Merci Mister Dash!, peaceful days are spent until Madam Croissant's grand daughter, Daphne, comes for a visit. Life turns topysy turvy for Mister Dash and he ultimately proves himself the hero of the story.

In Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity, Mister Dash again has to deal with Daphne's rambunctious energy as well as becoming the delivery pooch for Madam Croissant's new cupcake business. In true gentlemanly fashion, Mister Dash works hard to please Madam Croissant and saves the day again when a calamity with the delivery transpires.
Monica has such a knack for adding subtle humor to her writing and it had me grinning throughout the story.

click to enlarge 

Esperança Melo's rich acrylic illustrations perfectly compliment Monica's fun lyrical writing style. The lusciousness of the paint strokes make the cupcake's frosting pop off the page and her illustrations enhance the humor in Monica's writing perfectly.

 (Mister Dash donning a disguise hoping to sneak away from Daphne.) 

I asked Monica what inspired Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity...

"I first met Mister Dash, or rather a dog with the name “Dash,” while walking my two big dogs in Toronto’s High Park. On the trail ahead a woman was calling her dog, “Da-ash! Mister Da-ash!” I thought, what a great name, and wondered what type of dog would come running. It turned out that jaunty “Mister Dash” was a black standard poodle. What a great character for a picture book, I said to myself. I spent the remainder of my walk creating a storyline and a couple more characters.

In my first Mister Dash story, Merci Mister Dash!, I made my main character a poodle. The first editor who read the story turned it down with a curt, “I don’t like stories with poodles in them.” Hmm. How unusual. In response to this rejection, I turned my Mister Dash into a mixed-breed dog, and that has probably worked out best all round because it has opened up more possibilities. Mister Dash can now rely on five different breeds in his makeup to help save the day.

I was inspired to write my second Mister Dash, Mister Dash and the 
Cupcake Calamity, by Esperança Melo’s illustrations for the first book, especially the kitchen scene in which Daphne and Dash are eating caramel popcorn. I love the blue and yellow squared floor in that spread! So I decided I must write another story and that it must mainly take place in the kitchen. But how would I do that? Madame Croissant owned a gift store in the first book. Then I thought, why can’t Madame Croissant switch vocations and the wackier the better. Throw in a third-hand van, a delivery dog, baking day with Daphne, and CUPCAKES! and away we go."


Mister Dash and the cupcake Calamity is an entertaining read that children will enjoy revisiting time and time again. I have my fingers crossed that there will be more adventures with the fanciful Mister Dash!

In The Bag! - An Interview with Monica Kulling

I am a fan of picture book biographies and always excited when I find one that is about something 

unexpected.  In The Bag! written by Monica Kulling introduces us to Margaret Knight, an exceptional woman from the 1800's who invented the flat bottom paper bag. 

I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would recommend it highly.  Not only is it interesting to learn about the birth of something we take for granted but it is also inspiring to read about a woman during a time that being ingenious and self reliant were a negative.

Monica's clear and concise writing makes this biography easy for children to retain and marries well with David Parkin's realistic yet slightly caricaturistic style. 

I had the honor of interviewing Monica and I know you will find the backstory to In The Bag! just as entertaining as I did. Thanks, Monica!

How Did In the Bag Come To Be?

Years ago, I got the idea to write about the “aha moment” that occurs in every inventor’s life, and which becomes the motivating force in the creation of his or her invention. I wrote a story about George Eastman and his camera, but no one, at the time, wanted it. Then I wrote about Henry Ford and how he invented his Model T. Eat My Dust! Henry Ford’s First Race was published by Random House in 2004 in their Step Into Reading line. Three years later, Random House published my second inventor book, Listen Up! Alexander Graham Bell’s Talking Machine.

When Tundra Books accepted It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph as the first title in what they called the “Great Idea” series, I not only had a home for more inventor stories, but was able to open up my writing from the leveled reader to the picture book format. This has given me more space to tell a story and the illustrator a larger canvas.

The first two books in the Tundra series were about men, so I was looking for a woman to write about. When I came across Margaret Knight, even though her invention might not be as monumental as the car or the telephone, I was fascinated by her struggle to hold onto her patent for the paper bag machine. The story of how she fought for the right to claim her invention was the best gift a writer could find, a ready-made struggle, “ripped from history’s pages,” as it were. Here was a man willing to go to court with his only defence, “this Knight woman can’t be the inventor of this machine because women don’t understand machines.” If not for Margaret’s meticulous note keeping, her story might have ended quite differently.

How Do You Make Biographies Interesting to Young Children?

I begin each biography with research from many sources. Then I decide on the story’s focus — the tighter the focus the better. In the case of Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner, it was the fact that FSK was a poet who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, writing a poem that became the national anthem.

Once I’ve got my focus, I write out a rough version of the story, bringing in all the facts. I don’t care about word length at this point. Then I divide the story across a 32-page lay out. The inventor stories are about 1,200 words in length. Once the story is in dummy form, I go back to writing and trimming, making sure each spread has action and something different from the previous spread to illustrate. No talking heads, please!

Finally, and this is the most time-consuming, I rewrite as many times as it takes, not only to bring the language down to the level of the grade-two reader, but to make sure the prose has a rhythm and a fun, easy manner. I don’t want word-dominated spreads, so I try to keep action in mind as I write.

My final run through of the text involves reading it out loud. That’s the true test of how well the sentences are laid out, whether the information is clear, and whether the story is unfolding in a compelling, dramatic fashion. So that’s the process in a nutshell — as Wallace Stegner observed, “hard writing makes easy reading.”

How Do You Get Your Non-Fiction Ideas?

When writing my biographies, I mostly follow my fascinations. Who interests me and why? What aspect of the individual’s life intrigues me? There must be struggle, quirkiness, obsession, or qualities of that nature to act as a hook on which to hang my story. I’ve found all those aspects present in the lives of inventors. They are often visionaries, lone wolves, a little wacky and off the beaten track, spending years to realize their ideas and regarded as crazy in the process. And then, no one can live without the invention and the inventor is called a genius. How’s that for a complete about-face?I like to “pepper” my biographies with dialogue, setting scenes in which the historical characters act out their lives for the reader, rather than merely describe the facts of the life. Critics who are purists don’t always appreciate this. But a quote from Kathryn Harrison captures what I mean and also, perhaps, why I choose to write biography in this way. “I couldn’t change the facts. I could only play with how the people might have responded to the facts of their lives.” Children respond to playfulness and learn best in those conditions. Playful writing is a draw for them. Another source for my ideas is research and reading. In my research on one individual, I often come across interesting facts about others and people I hadn’t heard of and wish to explore.

Monica Kulling Brief Biography

I have been writing and publishing biographies and fiction for young readers for many years. My latest book, the third in Tundra Books “Great Idea” series, In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up, was chosen by the Smithsonian as one of the Ten Great Science Books of 2011. The fourth book in the series, Going Up! Elisha Otis’s Trip To the Top, will be out in October 2012. I have also written about a well-mannered dog, Mister Dash, and an unruly girl named Daphne. Merci Mister Dash! will have a sequel in Spring 2013, Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity. I live in Toronto with my partner, two dogs, and four cats.