By Charly SHELTON

To celebrate the release of “Thunder Pug,” illustrator Keika Yamaguchi came to Once Upon A Time bookstore in Montrose to sign books, new and old, for legions of Puddle Pug fans.

Percy the Puddle-Loving Pug is back in an all-new adventure, “Thunder Pug.” When Percy’s best friend Petunia the Pig wins a blue ribbon at the fair, she suddenly has no time for playing with her friend. When Percy finds an old comic book in a puddle, he decides to take on a new alter ego – and Thunder Pug is born! But without a sidekick, he is still lonely. This children’s book teaches the importance of friendship, and frames the difficult task of navigating popularity in a way that young kids can relate to and understand.

Yamaguchi said she enjoyed her appearance at OUAT.

“The event went great! It was a great turnout, and I had a great time,” Yamaguchi said. “At the end of the signing I did a drawing activity with the children and the audience. The kids and I came up with a super hero pug together. The pug was named Daisy the Thunderbolt and we made a sidekick super hero who is a frog. The frog’s name was Mr. Pizza. Daisy the Thunderbolt can summon lighting, and Mr. Pizza can summon pizzas. Daisy the Thunderbolt lives in a city and Mr. Pizza lives in a box. Daisy the Thunderbolt likes eating dog kibbles, and Mr. Pizza likes eating leaves. They both love eating a pizza with salad on it together. I love sparking kids’ imaginations. We had a lot of fun coming up with these ideas, the kids were really into it.”

In addition to “Puddle Pig,” Yamaguchi is also the illustrator of the newly released sequel “Thunder Pug,” both by author Kim Norman. Yamaguchi has also illustrated “Sick of Being Sick” by Justin Sullivan, “What About Moose?” by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca J Gomez, and “Teeny Tiny Toad” by Jill Esbaum. As a La Crescenta native, the first place Yamaguchi comes to for promoting a new book is Once Upon A Time.

“I grew up in La Crescenta, and so [I’ve known] the bookstore for a long time. Seven years ago, when I had my first book published, I came to the bookstore to promote it. And since then I’ve been a regular visitor and a friend of the owner Maureen [Palacios],” she said.

“Thunder Pug” has a deeper message than just the moral of the story. Yamaguchi dedicated her illustrations to a hero in her own life.

“I dedicated ‘Thunder Pug’ to my big fan Baron Aranda and his family. Baron was born with tuberous sclerosis and, since 2010, he and his family have been walking every year at the Step Forward to Cure Tuberous Sclerosis Complex to find a cure and to show support for families with this genetic condition,” Yamaguchi said. “During the making of the book, I went to the walk and was inspired by the love and the true heroes at the event. One of my favorite aspects of ‘Thunder Pug’ is how Percy and Petunia became true heroes because they had each other. We all have a goal or a dream, and sometimes we can’t achieve it without the help of others.”

To find out more about Step Forward to Cure Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, visit Giving.TSAlliance.org and for more information on Yamaguchi’s books, visit KeikasHouse.com.

  Charly Shelton