Writing from life’s experiences is a surefire way to know your subject! The Adventures of Kitt the Kid was born out of my fun as a child growing up in a small town in south central Pennsylvania.

Our neighborhood was a great place in which to grow up. I have a sister who’s three years older than I am, and there were a lot of kids around our ages in the neighborhood. Most of the parents worked, although there was always at least one of them home while we were playing or making mischief.

In the summer we played outside from morning until night, stopping for food, a drink or a quick break. We occasionally did watch TV, but that wasn’t our main pastime. Playing was! And boy did we have fun! We rode our bikes, played probably every sport possible, had a pretend circus, swam in our small backyard swimming pool, ran through the sprinklers, made perfume out of lilacs, and sold lemonade out of a big cardboard gingerbread house.

In the winter we built snow forts, went sledding, and played inside more often than not. One friend in particular, named John, had almost every cool toy imaginable, like Rock “Em, Sock “Em Robots. He had a lot of board games, like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders, that we loved to play. He was very generous and quick to share his toys. His Mom, Mae, always had candy and goodies on hand for us. She was also the Mom that took us on “field trips,” to such places as The Daniel Boone Homestead in Berks County and to the local community swimming pool on hot summer days.

With all the fun came occasional scrapes, cuts, and black eyes. But that was rare. Fighting between us was rare, too. And when we did fight, we got over it fast. We stuck together and we had fun!

The Adventures of Kitt the Kid, the first book in what I hope will be a series of books, draws upon some of that fun we had in the old neighborhood. Kitt’s adventures are a lot like the adventures of the kids from East Chestnut Street!

Debra Pagano