Traveling the World for Strawberries

Laurence and Hamilton love spending days on their farm, eating strawberries. But the season is changing and the strawberry supply is growing slim.

What's a pig to do?

Travel the world and find some more.

Pigs & Strawberries: The Adventures of Laurence and Hamilton, the first self-published children's book by Aliso Viejo resident Jenni Garrick, follows the journey of two pigs in search of strawberries. While on their journey around the globe they meet many new friends.

Garrick, a mother of two, said she wanted to write a children's book to make story time with her children more special.

"I always wanted to read to my children and thought they'd like to have one their mom wrote," she said.

She began writing the book when she was pregnant with her first child, Noah. He is now 2 years old and requests Pigs & Strawberries often.

"Noah loves it and calls it by name," she said. "If there is a stack of books, he asks for Pigs & Strawberries."

Garrick said she also wanted to introduce children to the adventures of traveling. A lover of travel herself, Garrick included photographs from her own adventures within the book.

The decision to self-publish her book was made for two reasons. The first being the level of difficulty in finding a publisher. Publishing companies like Random House, only take a certain number of new projects every year, making rejection common.

Garrick said she also loved the self-publishing route because of the colorful and vibrant illustrations she saw in self-published books.

"They have really great illustrators," Garrick said.

Active every step of the way, Garrick was able to give detailed feedback during the creation of the book — even changing the shade of the strawberries to a more realistic shade of red.

Garrick researched many self-publishers before deciding on AuthorHouse.

"They have published some really great books that have gone on to become bestsellers and have been made into movies. Two of which are, Legally Blonde and Proof of Life," Garrick said.

Garrick's book is currently being sold online through Amazon for $16.95 and AuthorHouse for $9.96. Garrick said self-publishing costs about $9 per book, so for now her goal is to get the name out there and build interest. She is currently looking into selling through bookstores like Barnes and Noble.

Since its release date in September 2011, Garrick has sold 35 books.

Work has begun on her second book, Pigs & Peacocks, which follows Laurence and Hamilton on another adventure. Since the names Laurence and Hamilton are in honor of Garrick's husband and son's middle names, in the new book the pigs will meet a new friend who will be named after her second child Abby, 6 months.

Amazon customers had the following to say about Pigs & Strawberries:

"I've just purchased this book as a gift for my best friend and her new baby. It's such a gorgeous book that's also educational and beautifully written. I have no doubt that my friend's baby will love this book and its adventurous story!"

"I very much enjoyed this book and can't wait to give it to my daughter for Christmas — nicely illustrated and well written!"

"I love that this book introduces children to the idea of travel and includes illustrations as well as real photos! I also like the message that you can search the world for something, but you may just find that it is at your own home all along and your home is what you will miss. It's always nice to travel, but home is where the heart is. This is my three year old son's favorite book! He loves the character's names and the illustrations! Such a cute and well written book!"