Regina Montana

Meet my Characters

IDEAS ARE EVERYWHERE

The ideas for my picture books came to me over the years when I least expected them. These stories will hopefully become picture books one day.  Some are still works in progress.

In 2020, I picked up the newspaper and read about Keith Greenlee of Lake Charles, Louisiana. He was forced to evacuate his home ahead of Hurricane Laura. After packing up five cats and a rabbit into his pickup, he realized he had to leave his 150-lb. tortoise Daisy behind. After reading about the 20-year-old reptile, I saw the story immediately as a fictional account of Daisy’s attempt to reunite with her family. I renamed her Sophie.

And Stay Strong Sophie was born.

Illustration by children’s book author and illustrator Jerry Smath when he heard about the story.  Picture done for R. Montana
Actual photo of Daisy on a Tortoise Farm where she now lives

One day, while pet-sitting my son Matthew’s dog Sunny, I discovered she had stolen and devoured a half pound of bacon that was sitting on my stove-top. After finding the culprit enjoying her chew toy, I confronted her with the words,

"SAY YOU’RE SORRY SUNNY!"

I felt this had the makings of a picture book. Could dogs express contrition for their actions? I think so, but you’ll have to wait and see.

The minute I saw this photo of my mentor Randi Mrvos’s cat, I was inspired to write PLEASE MR. PAWS!

This feline wants to grow up fast. He is tired of the antics of the kittens in the neighborhood and sets about trying to prove himself to the stuck-up cats in the neighborhood. What could possibly go wrong? Will Mr. Paws see the light and realize what’s really important? Stay tuned.

Illustration by Anna Fernandez

The idea for Maddie’s New Tea Party came to me when I was tutoring a young Ukrainian mother on Zoom.

Alesia introduced me to Motanka dolls which are native to Ukraine and made by hand.

Maddie has tea parties every day after school.  She has never invited friends since most of her classmates never talk about dolls and she feels embarrassed. Until one day when a Ukrainian girl joins their class and brings her doll Olenka to Show and Tell.  Maddie finds the courage to invite a stranger over after school and her tea parties will never be the same.