{"id":2956,"date":"2021-06-20T09:33:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T13:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=2956"},"modified":"2021-06-20T09:33:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T13:33:16","slug":"charlottes-brandon-reese-and-his-cave-dada-picture-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2021\/06\/20\/charlottes-brandon-reese-and-his-cave-dada-picture-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte\u2019s Brandon Reese and His Cave Dada Picture Books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I visited Park Road Books the other day, I took a look at their display of recent books by area authors, and that\u2019s where I saw Brandon Reese\u2019s latest picture book, Cave Dada Picky Eater.\u00a0 <\/em>I enjoyed Brandon\u2019s Cave Dada, <\/em>which came out in 2020, so I decided to check out his new book.\u00a0 As soon as I picked it up, I noticed a cover sticker with the words \u201cAutographed Copy\u201d on it.\u00a0 The person behind the counter told me that Brandon had recently stopped by the store to sign copies of his book.\u00a0 She mentioned that he didn\u2019t just sign the books\u2014he also included original drawings along with his signature.\u00a0 She was right.\u00a0 I opened the book, and in the front, I saw a wonderful sketch of Cave Dada and his son.\u00a0 Needless to say, the book is now part of my picture book collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brandon\u2019s Cave Dada <\/em>picture books are funny accounts of the misadventures of a Stone Age father and his toddler son Baba.  In the first book, Baba wants his father to read him a bedtime book, which takes more effort than one might expect since Baba\u2019s books are made out of stone.  Cave Dada resists because he is tired from hunting and gathering all day, but of course Baba wins the day, or in this case, the night.  In the process, Cave Dada accidentally discovers how to make a fire.  In the second book, it\u2019s morning and Baba wants an egg for breakfast, but Cave Dada is all out of eggs. What follows is a series of mishaps as Cave Dada tries to entice his son to eat something else for breakfast.   In the end, Cave Dada finds an egg and accidentally invents the omelet in the process of cooking it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While creating these books, Brandon draws on his own experiences as a father.\u00a0 His own son is now a teenager, but Brandon remembers well the parenting experiences he had when his son was little.\u00a0 These experiences are reflected in the humorous adventures of Cave Dada and Baba.\u00a0\u00a0 As is stated on the dust jacket for Cave Dada Picky Eater, <\/em>Brandon \u201chas ample experience cooking breakfast for picky eaters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In creating his picture books, Brandon also draws on the support of other children\u2019s authors and illustrators who live in the Charlotte area.  I asked him for more information about this support network, and here is what he sent to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My goal has always been to be an author and illustrator of picture books. I struggled for quite some time trying to gain traction in the industry. Eventually (and thankfully!) I found SCBWI (Society of Children\u2019s Book Writers and Illustrators) and joined a local critique group here. Charlotte is rife with talented and published kid-lit authors and illustrators. It\u2019s a wonderful, supportive community that\u2019s certainly aided my career.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

If I remember correctly, CAVE DADA was the first manuscript I brought to my critique group. I figured I was on the right track when it was read aloud and everyone laughed at the right spots. Eventually, it was sold in a 2-book deal with Chronicle Books. The second book, CAVE DADA PICKY EATER, just came out this April\u2026 just in time for Father\u2019s Day!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For readers who want to know more about Brandon and his picture books, please click on the following link:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.brandonreese.com\/about\/<\/a>\u00a0 For readers who want to know more about the local chapter of the Society of Children\u2019s Book Writers and Illustrators, please click on the following link: https:\/\/carolinas.scbwi.org\/<\/a>\u00a0 For readers who are interested in Father\u2019s Day stories that have connections to Storied Charlotte, I highly recommend Brandon\u2019s Cave Dada <\/em>picture books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I visited Park Road Books the other day, I took a look at their display of recent books by area authors, and that\u2019s where I saw Brandon Reese\u2019s latest picture book, Cave Dada Picky Eater.\u00a0 I enjoyed Brandon\u2019s Cave Dada, which came out in 2020, so I decided to check out his new book.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[199],"class_list":["post-2956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-storied-charlotte","tag-picture-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2956"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2972,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956\/revisions\/2972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}