Adventures in readings — Pedersen's 'Swamp Kids'

We’ve been following the impressive publishing career of Leif Pedersen, who works as a professional fund-raising executive by day. He’s published several books in the “The Adventures of the Swamp Kids” series, incorporating many Louisiana celebrities in the telling, and selling the sweet children’s board books throughout Louisiana.

His latest is “The Swamp Kids Play Ball” (illustrated by Tim Banfell) and features the usual suspects such as TuTu the turtle, Boudin the pig, Plauche the pelican and other swamp creatures. Tutu wants to start a game of baseball but this ensemble doesn’t play like your average baseball team. Plauche catches balls in his beak, Mon Cher the raccoon rounds the bases fast for, well a raccoon, and Ribbideaux the frog uses his tongue to snag grounders. But when the Great Danes arrive, the Swamp Kids are no match for their dogs' baseball expertise.

In the end, the Great Danes score big and the Swamp Kids make one run, but they don’t mind because they had great fun. The group hauls Tutu on their shoulders and thank him for teaching them how to play the game.

It’s a sweet story about how winning isn’t always the end result, that having fun with friends is just as important. At the back of the book is a “Lagniappe Lesson” by LSU Head Baseball Coach Paul Mainieri, who reiterates the book’s moral. He advises readers to find a sport they enjoy, “work hard to be at the top of your game and enjoy playing with your teammates and against your opponents. Because many of them will be your friends for life.”

And if that’s not fun enough, you can sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with your kids at the book’s final page.

Pedersen hails from New Orleans and now lives in Slidell. He has been a big band singer for almost 40 years and spent a half dozen of those years as the featured vocalist with Buddy Morrow's Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He’s a former Marine and a member of Southeastern Louisiana University's Music Hall of Fame. 

Banfell also resides in Slidell and is a graphic artist and cartoonist who has developed a devoted following for his cartoon strip, "Wrong Key," which is featured in a number of newspapers around the coast of Florida. He currently works as a graphic designer and photographer for a major oil company. 

For more information about “The Swamp Kids Play Ball” and other books in the series, plus activity sheets and other supporting resources, visit www.theswampkids.com.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.