It's been a dream to be an author.

Cheryl Minima realize that dream with the publication of her first children's book, Hungry Johnny.

And today, she is on hand to sign editions of her latest children's book, Johnny's Pheasant.

The process of sharing my stories is exciting and it's fun, and I'm glad when children can identify with the story and to have a little fun with it.

I like to add a humor to the story.

So not only is it laced with a little bit of intertwined with, traditional values, it also has a lot of humor, in it as well.

So it's fun to see the reaction of the children and hearing this story.

I've always enjoyed listening to stories.

You know, there's so many stories within our culture that have been passed down orally.

And I was raised by my mother and my grandmother, my sisters and my aunties.

We lived a very traditional life.

I feel fortunate, that I had the upbringing that I did, to spend so much time with my mom and my grandma and, you know, all the experiences that we've had.

And, you know, a lot of those people have passed on.

And so the connection, how I feel is like keeping their spirit alive.

Cheryl's inspirations for her two published works are her family in this case, her grandmother and her brother.

She's following the writer's mantra of write about what you know, while adding a bit of whimsy and fun to her stories to appeal to a younger audience.

Johnny's pheasant is my second published book.

The first book is, Hungry Johnny, and these are based off of memories.

So my little brother Johnny and Grandma.

The memory actually took place with an owl.

And so the original story, I wasn't there, I was away in college at the time, but my mom and John and grandma talked about, picking up the owl from the roadside, and they thought it was, had been hit by a car or something, and my mom was going to use it for crafts.

You know, she was collecting owl feathers.

She was going to make a bustle and, and it really did.

It must have only been knocked out.

And it came, came to and it flew around the living room, landed on grandma's head.

And that was quite the ordeal.

The process of writing the story and sharing it, there's different beliefs within, even just within Ojibway.

A lot of different opinions on the owl itself.

And I wanted to be respectful to people who were raised, to view owls as a bad omen.

And so even though that I wasn't raised, with that particular belief, I wanted to be respectful and yet still share the story and the memory and the humor.

And so I changed it to a pheasant.

I wasn't quite sure about the hoot hooting because the owls, you know, you think about hoot, hoot.

But I decided to keep it in there and I thought it would be.

Maybe it would be funny or, or somebody could maybe think a little bit more about it and think, maybe the pheasant was raised by owls or something, or and that I didn't know what the illustrations would bring to the story.

So I kind of left it open and it worked out very well.

The illustrator for Johnny's Pheasant is native artist Julie Flatt.

After the story was done, and sitting down with the editor at the University of Minnesota Press, he was starting to envision what the story would look like, what different illustrators.

And when I saw Julie Flats work, I knew right away that's the one I wanted.

Her artwork is beautiful and it's powerful and it's perfect for Johnny's pheasant.

Cheryl's entry into the crowded field of children's literature is due to a lack of stories by native authors for a native audience, especially native children.

I have memories of growing up and how it felt to go into the library at school and not have very many books where we were in as Native Americans and especially children, you know, to see ourselves in literature, in a contemporary setting and to be properly represented.

And so that's been, a passion to contribute to children's literature.

It's an Ojibwe to give the opportunity for children today to see themselves in literature.

The more you read, the better you become at the craft of writing, to explore different authors, different genres, and keep reading.

And so the more you read, the more you learn.

And then even just with schooling, going to school and learning the craft of writing is helpful.

You can be born with certain talents, but going to school helps sharpen up those skills.

I'm quite the introvert.

I like staying home and listening to music and doing bead work and writing my poetry, so the attention is a little bit overwhelming.

But it's.

I feel grateful.