Saboyu

Doris «Cookie» Palacios loved telling stories to her two grandkids, Brooke and Anthony. Whenever they came to visit, before getting in the door, they reminded her that they must have a story before bedtime. Cookie worked long hours and was pretty exhausted by the kids' bedtime, but there was no getting around story time. Each night, Cookie would lie on the bed, the kids would pile on, and they were off to another land and time. Like butter on a skillet, Grandma Cookie would begin to spin stories of all kinds. One story was about a little boy who lived in a beautiful village and was to become a warrior king. He could talk to animals. Grandma called him Saboyu. After a while, Brooke and Anthony only wanted the stories about Saboyu. That name seemed to be magical. The kids were tiny and couldn't really pronounce the name Saboyu very well, but they made Grandma know exactly what they meant. Grandma created stories about Saboyu's life, his family and friends, his challenges, and especially his best friends-the monkey, the pig, and the bird. One day Brooke said, «Grandma, you should write a book with all your stories.» Well, of course, Cookie made the stories up and forgot them as soon as she finished. Since she didn't write them down, she wasn't sure she could remember. But she told them she would write a book if they helped her. And she had them choose three stories. They loved the stories of the monkey, the pig, and the bird, and they even drew pictures of what they thought they looked like. As they recounted the stories to her, Saboyu came pouring back into her memory, and she saw his big smile and beautiful face. Cookie hopes you will enjoy meeting him, his beloved family, and his animal friends. She and her grandkids are busy writing more books about the adventures of this wonderful, young warrior king.