reginald lives

My first picture book, Reginald, never made it past its first print run, and about a year ago, I received a notice informing me that the publisher's stock was going to be sold off to god knows where for two bits and a bushel of figs. I figured it would never be seen again, except, maybe, being poured into a landfill.

Well, a few weeks ago, my brother was vacationing with his girlfriend on Sanibel Island, Florida. They stopped into a gift shop along the beach, where there was a small display of picture books, including Reginald (that's it on the right hand side of the top shelf):



After lunch, they stopped into another store, and lo and behold:



Now, there could be several explanations for this phenomenon. It's possible that both stores are owned by the same person. Maybe the airplane that was carrying my book off for incineration lost a crate en route, and it was recovered by a salvage crew. But I prefer the last one, personally:

I'm huge on Sanibel Island, baby.