Claire’s daddy has to go away a lot. He is, after all, the starring pitcher for a professional softball team called The King and His Court.
But for 7-year-old Claire, the softball king is her daddy. And her daddy is often gone. In this charming book, written and illustrated by that very same 7-year-old, Claire tells us what it’s like “When Daddy Goes Away.”
Claire Hoppe wrote and illustrated that story 20 years ago. She’s now 27. After reading Beth and Devon’s book, “Don’t You Roll Your Eyes at Me!” her mom, Julie Bayno Hoppe, resurrected that summer project and asked Beth if she could turn it into a short, published book. Beth could. She did. It’s now available on Amazon.
Julie surprised Claire’s daddy, Richie Hoppe, with the book on his birthday in July 2014. And Claire’s daddy, now retired from softball and doing a lot less traveling, thought it was the best piece of literature he’d ever read.
An excerpt follows.
