BY FRAIDY REISS
Staff Writer
Carol Lott McNamara, a retired elementary school teacher who lives in Jackson, has written her first book for children, “Where’s My Shadow?” JACKSON — Ask Carol Lott McNamara why she looks so pleased, and she will tell you it is because of a little boy who cannot find his cat.
McNamara, 64, is not a child-hater; in fact, she taught young children for 30 years before she retired in 1999. She is rejoicing over Peter Jenkins’ misfortune because she concocted the third-grader and his mischievous pet, Shadow, two years ago for a children’s book she wrote — and in March she finally saw the book published.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said during an interview at her Jackson home.
McNamara, a lifelong New Jersey resident, said she came up with the idea to write a children’s book during the 23 years she spent teaching first grade at the West Freehold School, Freehold Township.
“When you teach young children, you spend a lot of time reading to them,” she said, adding that she found some “wonderful” children’s books but also some that made her say, “I can do as well as this.”
So 10 years ago she took a correspon-dence course offered by the Children’s Institute and, with her instructor’s help, had a story titled “The Box” published in a Pennsylvania children’s magazine.
“That was a thrill,” she said. “Then I retired and decided to write children’s books.”
“Where’s My Shadow?” is a mystery-adventure intended for children in the second, third and fourth grades. It tells the story of young Peter following clues and overcoming his shyness in his search for his beloved Shadow after she disappears during a thunderstorm.
“The [shyness] part of Peter is me,” McNamara said. “The teacher would call on me in third grade, and I would blush.”
The disappearing cat theme was also borrowed from her own life, she said. As a child she owned a cat named Impy, and when her three children were still young they owned a cat named Kitty. Both Impy and Kitty lived to the age of 20, but both were feisty felines who loved to sneak out, she said.
After McNamara wrote the manuscript, she sent it to 12 publishers, only to receive 12 rejection letters. Then she heard of the publisher AuthorHouse, which helps authors publish their own books.
“I wanted the book published,” she said. “I figured if the big publishers won’t do it, I’ll self-publish.”
The book is now available in paperback at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders and AuthorHouse for $9.95. McNamara said she has sold 130 copies on her own but did not know how many books the four retailers had sold.
The author has no immediate plans to write another book, she said.
“Right now my mind isn’t even thinking of ideas,” McNamara said. “Right now I’m concentrating on seeing how this [book] does and what happens with it.”