The Magic of Mookie — Connie Zakowski

As a child she was fascinated with all types of insects and baby chimpanzees. Stemming from that, forty-nine years later, she has a collection of insects, with a few books on the subject. Unfortunately, she never experienced having her own live monkey, but has a stuffed one she named Mookie.

Connie, now a cancer survivor, wanted something positive during her yearlong treatments. She came up with the idea of illustrating a version of her stuffed monkey and she created a series of Mookie books.

These books, starting with The Magic of Mookie, is a fun way for children to learn about animals, insects, and nature through Mookie and his pal Mikey.

Being a kid at heart, Connie hopes children will enjoy reading The Magic of Mookie, as much as she did creating it.