Photo Provided Bobbi Kasproski of Connecticut, originally from Belmont County, has written her first children’s book about a Dachshund’s adventures in Paris.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE –A Belmont County native found a way to share her love of travel and of reading by authoring her first children’s book.

Bobbi Kasproski, now living in Cromwell, Connecticut, is giving children a dog’s-eye view of the world abroad with her book “Lilly Goes to Paris.”

Kasproski was born in Martins Ferry and raised in St. Clairsville. She taught elementary school as an adult.

“I’ve taught for 31 years, both in Connecticut and in Florida. I retired 13 years ago,” she said. “I was a classroom teacher and then I became a library media specialist, so I was around books a lot and I worked with all ages of kids, from pre-K through ninth grade, and when I retired I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I wasn’t just going to sit at home and watch TV and do nothing.”

While she does volunteer work at the Amazing Grace Food Pantry at St. John Church and helps at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Kasproski said writing a book had always been an ambition in the back of her mind.

“I decided to write a children’s book. It is called ‘Lilly Goes to Paris.’ It’s about a Dachshund dog that stows away in her owner’s luggage and has adventures in Paris. It’s basically written for ages 3-7,” she said. “Not only did I want to write a book, but my inspiration was that I’ve been to Paris seven times and I’m on my way to Paris again in November for the eighth time. That’s a love of mine.”

She said two of her friends in Florida are also Dachshund owners, which proved another source of inspiration.

Kasproski said the book has elements of a travelog and provides educational information about the city.

“I have put in sites that are pretty famous,” she said. “Maybe it will entice them as they get older to do some traveling to these places, plus for this one because it’s in Paris I’ve incorporated some French words, a little bit of the culture. … It’s a little bit of a teaching tool.”

The illustrations also have an interesting story. She made connections with illustrators at a writing workshop, and the illustrator chosen was Angelina Ong from Malaysia.

“It was all done over the internet,” Kasproski said.

She had to do it herself when the time came to make her manuscript a reality.

“It’s self-published, because when I wrote to about 30 publishing companies, and basically I’m a nobody, I’m not a star, I’m not an actress, I’m not a spokesperson, I’m not a politician. So they really weren’t that interested except for quite a few comments were that they liked the book, but they had to be choosey,” she said.

The book was published in August 2022. Since then Kasproski has learned not only writing firsthand but also the ins and outs of promoting.

“I’m having to do all the marketing myself, so right now it’s up to me to start it moving. But in the beginning I sold quite a few books to friends all over the country and through my social media accounts, but right now I’m trying to set up some of the talks, book readings, book signings,” she said. “It’s just not easy to market myself.”

Kasproski plans to reach out to libraries in the fall to possibly have copies of her book placed in the children’s sections. Her book has also been accepted by some bookstores.

“It’s OK. I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy road to travel to do this, but in many ways I did it for myself, to prove that I could do it,” she said.

Kasproski said her book can be found on Amazon.com, through Barnes and Noble and booklocker.com.

There is a sequel ready to go, where Lilly’s adventures take her to London.

“I’m just waiting to see how this one does. It hasn’t been a year yet, and I want to market this one before I go forward with the other one,” she said. “It’s kind of a sequel to the first one, because I’ve traveled to various countries in Europe.”

She looks forward to seeing how children will take to Lilly and her adventures.

“I never thought growing up in little St. Clairsville this is what I would have done.”