By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The new book The Adventurous Mr. Tiggy: Sometimes It’s Good to be Different, by the Rev. Gigi Bannister and Reggie Bannister is a book that is getting good reviews and is the first book in a three-book series about the unique and curious orange cat Mr. Tiggy.
Reggie and Gigi Bannister and Mr. Tiggy.
This children’s story was written a few years ago by Gigi, inspired by her cat Mr. Tiggy, for her grandchildren. Reggie is an essential character in the orange cat’s adventures.
The grandchildren liked the story so much that they added illustrations for it, making it into a book for them to enjoy. After numerous years and several losses in her family, Gigi decided to share this story filled with positive lessons with other children and has published it through the KDP publication system of Amazon Publishing. The soft cover book is designed to be read to 5- to-10-year-olds.
The book centers on Mr. Tiggy, an orange and white cat whose eyes match his fur color. He chooses to move into the home of Gigi and Reggie Bannister and befriend their other cats. This particular episode follows how his curious and playful nature leads Mr. Tiggy on an adventure into the park one autumn day, where he meets many new and different animals with whom he makes friends. He meets geese, with feathers and long necks, and a possum who has a very different type of tail and is a marsupial with a pouch. Neither are like Mr. Tiggy at all, so they are different in their own unique and beautiful ways, but neither do they have a skin color that matches their eye color like Mr. Tiggy. Each is different, and yet they can be friends together.
While at the park, they face a common enemy when a hungry coyote arrives looking for dinner. Mr. Tiggy comes to the rescue of them all that fall day because of the unique orange coloring of his eyes matching his fur color. The conclusion is that being different can be a benefit for all.
Gigi and Reggie are actors, writers and filmmakers who moved into the Crestline community in 2003, where they have been very active in their adopted community. They ran summer film-making camps for youth through their Crestline Creative Arts Foundation (CCAF) for five summers in Crestline, teaching movie-making skills and techniques. One of the horror short movies written, directed and shot by the summer camp students, Crestline Charlie, is still viewed often on YouTube. The CCAF sponsored well-attended haunted houses each Halloween from 2003 though 2011 through the nonprofit foundation.
Beginning in 1995, through their Production Magic production company, the Bannisters have written, cast, shot and made other video projects. Plus, through their Production Magic company and the Inland Film Commission, they attracted and brought other movie companies into the mountain area to shoot their movies and music videos, which contributed to the local economy and branding of the Crestline and Lake Gregory area as an independent film-friendly location destination in the early 2010s.
Last winter’s snow storms inflicted great damage to their home, destroying their back deck and front windows, which forced them to spend this last year jumping through the hoops and finally getting them repaired. These tenacious Army veterans, while getting the repairs coordinated and completed, still found time to get this book published.
Their new book is now available through Amazon. A double-autographed copy of the book is available at https://nightmarez-cafe.myshopify.com/products/the-adventurous-mr-tiggy-sometimes-its-good-to-be-different.
The Adventurous Mr. Tiggy is a fun read and children respond to it well. Gigi is scheduled to do a reading of the book through a personal appearance at Rim Rec in the near future; autographed copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.
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