Puppies, babies, and social media are pretty much a perfect recipe for maximum cuteness. Those three ingredients combined in fall 2013 to make Internet stars of Beau; a tow-headed two-year-old, Theo; a newly adopted shelter puppy, and their mom, Jessica Shyba; who chronicled their cuddly naptimes via Instagram and on her blog, Momma’s Gone City. For those who want to see even more of this cozy duo, happy days are ahead: Feiwel and Friends is releasing the picture book Naptime for Theo and Beau on February 3.
“About a year ago [November 2013] I went after another Internet sensation project and lost it,” says senior v-p and publisher Jean Feiwel, looking back on the circumstances of her discovering Theo and Beau. “Also at that time, my own dog, Holden, was quite ill and dying.” As a bright spot, Feiwel says she received a Facebook post from Ranya Barrett, a former colleague at Scholastic, and the wife of David Barrett, who works with Feiwel at Macmillan. “Her post said, ‘Jean Feiwel, this has you written all over it,’ and it was the post from Jessica Shyba’s blog. I gazed longingly at those photos of boy and puppy and thought, ‘Wow, what a great place to find solace, comfort, and refuge.’ ”
Feiwel became a true fan of the blog. “I really loved it,” she says. “These are totally genuine photos, they’re not posed. We’ve all seen our share of pictures of puppies and kittens and people put them with a baby. But this is really something – Theo’s relationship with Beau – that has naturally evolved. Boy and dog play and fight and run around all day, and at naptime they just fall asleep; they are exhausted, spent.”
Then Feiwel contacted Shyba. “These are so adorable,” she wrote to Shyba via Facebook. “I’d love to do a children’s book; please get in touch with me.” Shyba wrote back, calling it a “lovely idea,” and not long after, Shyba’s agent, Lisa Gallagher at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, contacted Feiwel. “Lisa told me that they had been approached by adult houses with thoughts of doing a big coffee table book,” Feiwel recalls. “I said, ‘Well, I sort of get that, but I see it as a series for kids. These two are growing up together.’” At that point Feiwel was encouraged to make her pitch, “and that’s what I did,” she adds.
The pitch Feiwel made was a hit, and in December 2013, a two-book deal was announced. “We started working on the first book almost immediately,” says Feiwel. “We wanted to publish as soon as possible, so we needed to be in production in January and February of ’14 to make this list. We were afraid that because Jessica blogs and posts things that people would have seen a lot of it. We don’t want to lose the audience. Hopefully the fact that the book will be for all her fans who want to see the story presented in a slightly different way will help us.”
Shyba and Feiwel worked together on the “very simple text” says Feiwel, and Shyba “sent us about 500 pictures to look through. It was really fun. In every shot, parts of their bodies are always touching. Theo is quite unusual looking in his face, looks-wise. He’s obviously a very special dog.” Feiwel notes that much of the book is describing how Theo and Beau snuggle up and get comfortable enough to fall asleep. “We wanted to get the sweetness and love they have for each other in the book,” she adds. “And that’s what comes across. That’s what people respond to.”
Even as book one was underway, Feiwel had seen photos of Theo and Beau in the bath together and told Shyba she saw “Bathtime with Theo and Beau” as the next project, scheduled for early 2016. “Theo getting in the bath is hilarious,” says Feiwel. “Obviously it’s a more infrequent occurrence than the naps, but it’s something they were already doing.” With a new book in mind, Feiwel suggested to Shyba that there should be plenty of tub time photos to choose from when the next production deadline rolled around. This type of organic development of ideas is important to both Feiwel and Shyba. “I want it to be something that’s a part of their lives,” says Feiwel. “I don’t want to impose a storyline that doesn’t exist.” Though Feiwel hadn’t thought of a third idea yet, Shyba’s growing family recently presented the opportunity for book number three when baby girl Evangeline Shyba joined the clan – and Theo and Beau’s naptime routine – this past fall. Theo and Beau and Evangeline will be next in the series.
Beyond the trio of titles, time will tell. “Beau is a boy now, no longer a baby,” notes Feiwel. “And Theo is huge, he’s towering over this kid. It’s great to see them grow and change, too.”
Marketing for the book includes a major social media campaign using the hashtag #theoandbeau. The jacket of Naptime with Theo Beau folds out into a full color poster of the snoozing cuties. A pre-order campaign features copies with signed bookplates that sport Theo’s pawprint, Beau’s handprint, and Shyba’s signature. Bookshop Santa Cruz is hosting a launch event February 8 where Theo will make an appearance. And a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be going to the Santa Cruz ASPCA, a cause near to the Shyba family’s heart, especially because that’s where they first encountered Theo.
The picture book will likely draw its share of dog lovers of all ages, as well as a broad swath of grown-up buyers. “I was bidding against adult publishers, so the book will be right for the adult gift market as well, and will attract dog fans for sure,” Feiwel posits. “There are plenty of adults not ashamed to have a dog cuddled up with them on the bed.” No matter who the target audience is, Feiwel is very pleased that Theo and Beau’s book is heading to market. “When I lost that other Internet project, it was hard not to hear that old saying ‘when one door closes, a window opens,’ she says. “I thought, yeah, sure. But this is one of those few times that it worked out. This is perfect.”
