Children’s books aim to capture local family favorites

Visitors to Delaware’s beaches like to leave with wonderful memories of their time spent, and most want to take a piece of that vacation with them. With all the local shops, it isn’t hard to find a souvenir or fluorescent T-shirt with a favorite town name printed on the front.

But what if you wanted more – something that captured all of your favorite places in one, making it seem like you’re never too far away? Denise Blum, a long time native to the Maryland and Delaware beaches, was looking for just that.

“I got tired of buying the same old ‘tchotchke’ types of souvenirs, like snow globes and keychains. I was looking for something unique and began to search for children’s books about the resort areas we visited. I quickly discovered there aren’t many out there, so I decided to write a few myself,” said Blum.

Blum, who attended the University of Delaware, studied communications and always had a passion for writing. With support from her husband and two children, she took on writing children’s books as her new career. Blum teamed up with her former colleague Lisa Sanderson to form Mainstay Publishing Company. Sanderson has roots in Delaware and Maryland, as well, which made writing books about the area a perfect choice.

“Launching our business in these two areas seemed like a natural fit for us,” said Blum.

She vacationed in downtown Ocean City, Md., growing up and is very familiar with the fun areas to explore along the shore, which are noted in her books.

“They highlight most of the popular attractions and destinations at the Delaware beaches and in Ocean City, Md.,” said Blum.

It’s clear in speaking with Blum that writing the books was a fun experience for her and her family. In fact, her best critics seem to be her children. They acted as her audience, as she would read the books to them and take notice of whether they laughed in the right spots and were interested in the storyline.

Mainstay Publishing released its first book, “The Dubious Dolphin Dilemma,” in 2011. The book features some of the most popular vacation spots along the Delaware beaches and is a mystery that tells the tale of young boy who goes in search of his toy dolphin that he has lost somewhere along the Delaware shore. With each turn of a page, readers can reminisce about their favorite places to eat, shop and sunbathe.

Blum explained that “flipping through the pages will bring back lots of fun memories of a summertime trip to the beach. For locals, they will find their favorite hangout spots and, if they look close enough, they might recognize a few characters. Many of the people shown on our books are local business owners and their families.”

The book takes readers to places including Cape Henlopen State Park, the Indian River Life-Saving Station, Grotto’s Pizza, Fenwick Island Lighthouse and many more.

Mainstay Publishing’s second book, “The Plot of the Perilous Pirate,” was also released in 2011 and features the Maryland beaches and a few of their well-known attractions. The book tells the story of a pirate, Captain Smitty, who receives a treasure map for his birthday and begins to explore the Maryland shore in search of his treasure. The book features locations including Jolly Roger’s Splash Mountain, the Ocean City boardwalk, Old Pro Golf and Assateague Island.

Both books feature the creative artwork of local artist Melissa Walters. The illustrations in the book are colorful and aim to captivate the reader’s attention.

Blum and Sanderson have plans to release four more books in 2012 that will feature new locations, such as New Jersey and Virginia. The plan is to feature more local artists, who will provide the illustrations for the upcoming books.

“My goal is to keep expanding our markets and have the opportunity to write about additional resort areas,” said Blum.

The books can be purchased for $8 at most of the locations that are mentioned in the stories. “The Dubious Dolphin Dilemma” can be purchased online at www.seashellshop.com and www.grottopizza.com. “The Plot of the Perilous Pirate” can be purchased online, as well, at www.ocmuseum.org. For more information, contact Mainstay Publishing at (302) 223-6636 or email publisher@mainstaypublishing.com.