‘Grifficorn’ takes flight for Dedham author> Woman translates folk tales to children’s book

THE ADVENTURES OF JOSHUA T. GRIFFICORN by C.D. Belanger, illustrated by Anita Crane, New Markets Printing, 1998, 36 pages, $4.95 softcover.

Nobelee Gray never thought she would be a writer. She always wanted to be a singer. She did write poetry when she was in high school, but never expected they would be published. She believed that someday they would become songs.

In February, the Dedham resident and 34-year-old mother of two published her first book for children under the pen name C.D. Belanger. “The Adventures of Joshua T. Grifficorn” is the first in what the author hopes will be a series of fantasy stories for 6- to 14-year-olds.

Gray’s main character, Joshua, is a combination of three animals — a lion, a unicorn and an eagle. The griffin was a mythical beast, half lion and half eagle, thus the surname, Grifficorn. He lives in a cave, from where he can see everything that happens in the valley below. Joshua is the oldest creature living there. He is as old as the pyramids.

“My kids [ages 13 and 15] got tired of hearing `The Three Bears’ and fairy tales,” the author said, explaining why she had made stories featuring such an unusual animal. “My younger daughter, Christie, loves lions; Twila, my older daughter, and my niece, Lynnette, like eagles and unicorns.”

A friend suggested she write down the stories she told her children about the grifficorn, so they could be passed on from one generation to another. However, Gray found that writing and telling stories are two entirely different processes.

“In folk telling you can change small details, the pace, the flavor of the story, depending on your audience,” said Gray. “But once you write it down and it’s in print, that’s it.”

She completed “The Adventures of Joshua T. Grifficorn” in late 1995. The next January pupils at the Rockwood Elementary School (kindergarten-grade three) in Piscataquis County were given “preview” copies of the book. “Even the youngest of the children enjoyed and understood the contents of this story,” wrote Katherine Ryder, the school’s principal, for the book-jacket blurb.

When they finished reading her book, the pupils sent Gray illustrations to go with the story. They “were such a precious gift — part of their imagination” that the author keeps them in a safe deposit box at her bank because she “doesn’t want anything to happen to them.”

After spending the next two years trying to find a publisher for “The Adventures of Joshua T. Grifficorn,” Gray was persuaded to self-publish her first book. It was at a Brewer printing company that she found Anita Crane, whose drawings illustrate the book.

“She captured Joshua perfectly, including his whimsical expression,” said Gray. “She did it just from my description in the book. I think she did a wonderful job.”

The author named characters after her children and niece. She even included the family dog, Buddy, “that looked like a cross between a sheep and a black dog, only bigger!”

Gray has completed two other books featuring Joshua T. Grifficorn, but has not yet found a publisher for them. She plans to keep writing after the birth of her third child this fall. She also hopes to take her first trip to Rockwood to meet the children who know Joshua almost as well as the author does.

“The Adventures of Joshua T. Grifficorn” is available at bookstores in Bangor and Brewer.