.jpg)
Special to the News Journal/DAVID W.
HOWELL |
Sydney Kramer, 12, shows off the book that she wrote and
published last
year. |
By GARY HABER
The News Journal
12/15/2005
DOWNINGTOWN, PA. -- With a fondness for chocolate chip cookies and her guinea pig, Hershey, 12-year-old Sydney Kramer doesn't look the part of a future publishing bigwig.
But, if this precocious sixth-grader from Downingtown has her way, the children's book series she created will someday vie with Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket for the attention of young readers everywhere.
Sydney's first self-published book, "The Case of the Stolen Prom Dress: A Cookie Dalmatian Mystery," about a crime-solving Dalmatian, came out in November 2004. The 20-page paperback book is illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Linda Stauffer, a Quakertown artist and retired art teacher.
The book, available online at http://www.cookiedalmatian.com/, has sold about 100 copies at $12 each. Orders have come in from as far away as the United Kingdom.
"It's kind of a national bestseller for me," said Sydney, who dreams of a book tour and a TV appearance on "Oprah".
The Web site includes some fun facts about Cookie, the Dalmatian, such as favorite foods (steak and mashed potatoes) and best vacation (riding the Maid of the Mist boat at Niagara Falls.)
Sydney's latest canine-themed literary effort, "The Diary of Ms. Jane French Bull," is slated for release this month. Stauffer, a dog lover herself, and the owner of seven Norwich terriers, is again doing the illustrations.
Sydney and her father Marc, a marketing consultant and business books author, hash out the plot lines for the books. It took about three weeks to write the first book, Sydney said.
The subject matter was a natural.
"I'm desperate for a dog," she said. "My favorites are Dalmatians."
Cookie has made Sydney into a schoolyard celebrity. Kids mobbed her at recess after the book came out, and the cafeteria lady at her school asked for her autograph.
When Sydney made an appearance in April before about 200 students at a local elementary school, she received a reception befitting a rock star.
"They started chanting her name," Marc Kramer said. "They went wild. It was like the Beatles."
Sydney has always had a head for business, said her mother, Jacqueline Kadoch-Kramer, president of a company that books speakers for corporations and business groups.
When Sydney was 8, her mother said, she came up with an idea for a theme restaurant based on cartoon characters from the 1950s and 1960s.
Asked about her books, Sydney mentioned possible spin-offs, such as a Cookie Dalmatian TV mini-series, video games and toys.
When it comes to the future, this entrepreneur is keeping her career options open.
Sydney is thinking of maybe becoming a veterinarian, movie star or fashion designer. She has tried her hand at the fashion thing, having designed a cape for her mother and a beach skirt for a cousin.
Still, at age 12, it's comforting to know that, if the fashion world doesn't work out, there's something to fall back on.
"I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up," Sydney said. "But, I have a career, and that's writing books."
Contact Gary Haber at (302) 324-2878 or ghaber@delawareonline.com.
Top of page