Longtime friendship creates a new tale

Words first placed on paper in the teacher’s room of Robert Van Wyck Junior High School 217 in Queens during the 1976-’77 school year by then science teacher Mark Dubin are now in a children’s book “Trouble, Trouble, Ant in the Bubble” along with illustrations by Jerry Stulberger that will be on sale in a few days.

Dubin, 68, and Stulberger, 59, are Woodmere residents who have been friends for more than 30 years thanks to the grade school friendship struck up by their respective daughters, Alana and Mara, both now 32.

“I wrote the first verse then a second verse, and then life got in the way,” Dubin said about his 40-year teaching career that included 32 years in New York City’s public schools and eight years in yeshivas in Queens and Long Island.

In 2006, the friends decided to turn the words into a book. An accountant for many years, Stulberger always had a penchant for the graphic arts and created the illustrations. “I have been drawing since I could read,” said Stulberger, who recounted how his Uncle Harry Horowitz would constantly bring paper for his nephew. “I drew things with perspective such as the Whitestone Bridge,” Stulberger added.

With the illustrations for the book complete in 2007, the duo tried to get it published. They received about eight rejections. Stulberger, who owns FPG Printing in Hewlett, changed gears to painting and the project was put on the back burner.

Fast forward to August of last year, when Stulberger thought of reviving the book. “I didn’t know he was going to do it,” Dubin said. “I figured we give it a year to do it,” Stulberger said. “I always thought about bringing a book to life.” And literally it was, as the book was put together in Stulberger’s shop on Broadway.

Thinking of self-publishing, they found Splashing Cow Books and a supporter in owner Gordon McClellan, who responded by email two hours after Dubin and Stulberger emailed the book to the Vermont-based publisher in February. “We love the feel of the artwork and the underlying theme of friendship that defines “Trouble, Trouble, Ant in the Bubble,” McClellan said. “It is a rhyming book, which is extremely difficult to do well. Mark is able to create truly organic rhyme, which immediately and successfully engages the reader. When we first read the book, it reminded us of Dr. Seuss.”

Energized by the support from McClellan and his team of “book farmers” who market Splashing Cow books through social media, both Dubin and Stulberger said creating the book was a lot of fun, and they already have the go-ahead for their next book from the company, “Turtle in the Tree,” that could be published later this year.

“We integrate jokes for adults,” said Dubin, adding that his granddaughter Rifka, 7, a second-grader at Torah Academy for Girls in Far Rockaway has already completed a book report on the Ant book.

Splashing Cow Books intentionally doesn’t sell its book on Amazon nor distribute through traditional bookstores. “We also run ads on social media and we organize book events for our authors, which provides an opportunity for people to interact one-on-one with our authors,” McClellan said, about his company’s business model.

“Trouble, Trouble, Ant in the Bubble” can now be pre-ordered at splashingcowbooks.com.