Welcome to the author interview with Randi-Lee Bowslaugh as she shares with us about Woofie the stuffed pup, and how he came to be!
Blurb:
Woofie is a stuffed dog that lives in a classroom full of children. Each week, Woofie goes home with a different child and has many adventures.
Elizabeth introduces Woofie to her Hamster, Buffy. One day, Buffy stays asleep, and Elizabeth doesn’t understand why.
Woofie stays with Elizabeth as she says goodbye and helps her to be brave.
Want to know more about Woofie and the author who helped create him? Keep reading for our interview with author Randi-Lee Bowslaugh!
Our first question to author Bowslaugh was –
Why title the story – Woofie Says Goodbye? It initially gives the impression that Woofie, the main character, is going away. Though it is a nice surprise to learn that he’s helping a child say goodbye.
Author Bowslaugh’s response: It just felt right. Not only was Elizabeth learning to say goodbye, but Woofie was also. He may say small goodbyes to each child when he is done with them, but this is his first time saying a forever goodbye.
Plus, having a slight twist is always a nice touch in a book.
We have to say that the twist was definitely a nice touch to the story!
When Elizabeth’s pet unexpectedly passed, it got us curious, so we asked:
In the book, Elizabeth’s pet passes away unexpectedly. Was this Elizabeth’s first experience with death?
Author Bowslaugh’s response: I believe that it is her first experience with death, which makes Woofie’s help all the more important. Death is not easy for anyone, especially a child who cared for and loved the deceased (Buffy the hamster).
The death of a pet is often the first experience someone has with death. There is nothing we can do to bring them back, but we can be there for the person who is grieving. That is exactly what Woofie is doing. He may not be able to speak words, but he speaks in love and warmth.
When someone is hurting, there are often no words to console them, but being there with the person means the world. Woofie is not only helping Elizabeth learn about death but also showing the readers that sometimes just being there can help a friend.
Woofie is such an adorable little character, so we had to know –
What was your inspiration to create Woofie the stuffed dog? Is Woofie based on a real pet you once had? Or a plush?
Author Bowslaugh’s response: My aunt (co-author Cassie Huffman) originally came up with Woofie in the 90s. My younger cousin had a stuffed toy that went to different classrooms, and one of his projects was to create a story.
During COVID-19, my aunt was laid off and decided to clean out her basement. She found the story she had written from (I believe) 1996 and sent it to me. I fleshed it out and edited it to form a true children’s book. That became the first Woofie book, Woofie Goes to the Hospital.
From there, we decided that Woofie could have many more adventures.
So we’re learning, fellow readers is that Woofie has technically been around for a long time! But it’s quite fortuitous that he’s been brought to “life” in a time when he can do a lot of good for young children!
Based on this thought process it naturally leads to our next question we posed to author Bowslaugh –
What made you decide to write a children’s book series that gives a nod to children’s mental health?
Author Bowslaugh’s response: I am a mental health advocate, and this is a topic near and dear to my heart. My entire family has experienced various mental illnesses, from addiction to depression and more. It is a topic that we forget children need to learn about at an early age, because mental illness knows no age limit.
My other books are nonfiction about my journey with mental illness. However, the target audience is late teens to adults. I felt it was important to bring the topic to a younger audience in a way that they can relate to and enjoy.
Woofie is such an adorable character, and we just know that children would love to read more stories featuring him, so, of course, we had to pose the question:
How many books do you think you’ll write for the Woofie series? Will each child in the class get a story?
Author Bowslaugh’s response: I haven’t decided, I suppose, until he has no more stories left to tell. As of now, a Woofie Goes to the Dentist is already in production. Levin Bowslaugh is continuing as the illustrator and is working on those.
There is also a draft of a story about Woofie helping a new student at the school. We have a list of ideas and are constantly adding to it.
There are endless possibilities, and the Woofie team will keep going until Woofie decides he is retiring.
That is quite exciting to know that there are indeed endless possibilities for Woofie. We’re definitely hoping to see more of Woofie, as he is quite adorable and appears to be such a help to children who need him.
With the scattering of adorable illustrations throughout Woofie Says Goodbye, we’d be remiss not to ask about the illustrator –
Did you and illustrator Levin Bowslaugh coordinate on which scenes to illustrate? Or was illustrator Bowslaugh allowed to draw illustrations at random, depicting various scenes throughout the book, and then specific ones were selected?
Author Bowslaugh’s response: I had the story broken into pages, and Levin had full creative range to depict each page as she saw fit. She does an amazing job and made suggestions on some of the page breaks. Ultimately, I trust her to bring Woofie to life, and she developed his look and all of his expressions.
We here at Scribbles Worth sincerely thank author Randi-Lee Bowslaugh for taking time out of her day to answer our questions about her book Woofie Says Goodbye.
We enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to read and review Woofie Says Goodbye, and you can check out the review here.
About the Author:
Randi-Lee was born and raised in Ontario, Canada and from a young age she had a passion for helping others. She attended Niagara College and graduated at the top of her class from Community and Justice Services after completing her placement at a recovery house for alcohol and drug addictions. Post-graduation she worked at a Native Friendship Centre for two and a half years while pursuing a university education in psychology. Randi-Lee continued working in social services for another four years as an employment counselor until she left to pursue her other passions.
In 2017 Randi published her first book about mental health awareness and from there knew that this was her dream. Since then she has continued writing and expanding the genres that she writes.
Another of Randi-Lee’s passions is kickboxing, which she did for over 10 years. She was a Canadian National Champion in 2015, competed at the World’s kickboxing tournament later that year and in 2016 competed at the Pan-Am games where she received silver in her division. In 2020 she was chosen as one of the coaches for the Ontario Winter Games where she inspired and coached young athletes.
While she isn’t working, she is spending time with her two teenage children and a grand-baby. Randi tries to speak honestly and openly about her struggles with her own mental health and as a parent – wanting to ensure that no one feels alone.
Want to know more about author Bowslaugh feel free to check her out on her social media platforms and check out her other books as well.
Published Works:
Non-Fiction:
Thoughts of a Wanderer
A Mother’s Truth
Embracing Me
Fiction
A Little Scare
Children’s Books:
Operation Deck the Halls
Diamond the Cat
Contact Information:
Scribble's Worth 
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