I may have unknowingly created a new literary genre. But don’t take my word for it. Read on and let me know if you think that is the case.

It all started when I saw a picture of a “sun zebra.” Unfortunately I can’t tell you what a “sun zebra” is without spoiling the title story of my book. Then, after I saw this animal, a little girl named Nell wandered out of my mind and went to tell her dad she had found a “zebra.” Since the story takes place in a farm in the middle of Pennsylvania, the dad was skeptical, but he and his wife Rhonda repeatedly took Nell to “look for the zebra,” and they found it. However, as it turned out, the dad found much more.

After I wrote this story four more stories came out of my mind: a trek by a courageous insect, a twist on Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” a Christmas tree with a special meaning, and a forgotten superhero making his triumphant return. So I gathered all the stories together and created an e-book entitled The Sun Zebra. The next step was to choose the genre of the book. It was then that I hit a roadblock.

The stories in my book deal with adult themes like death, growing old, and raising children. It is not a children’s book, but in many aspects it reminded me of a children’s book. So what was it? The thought crept into my mind that what I had written was a “children’s book for adults.” So I looked this up and I found books such as Adam Mansbach’s Go the **** to Sleep. This book was funny but it contained swearing, and I did not mean my book to be for adults that way. I wanted to convey that my book is family-friendly even if it is directed to adults. So I came up with the term "children’s book for grownups". But Amazon has no such category so grudgingly I published my book under “short stories” and “contemporary fiction".

I envision children’s books for grownups to be about helping adults see the world through the eyes of a child and learn from children. These books are inspirational and motivational without necessarily being religious. Because they deal with adult themes they are therefore anchored in reality, but they contain elements of the magical, the unexpected or the unusual commonly found in children’s books. My intended target population for these books is adults who have had or have children, although I have received very enthusiastic comments about my book from people in other age groups.

So, have I created a new literary genre? No matter how much I try to remember, I cannot recall ever reading something like this. But maybe you can help me out. The Sun Zebra will be free on Amazon from Wednesday April 11 to Friday April 13. Perhaps you can read my book (it’s a short read) to get a better grasp of what I mean, and then let me know if you have ever read anything like it by leaving a comment in this post.

The link to my book is: The Sun Zebra

I want to thank Karen & PJ for the chance to post as a guest on their blog. I am Rolando Garcia, the peculiar eclectic writer.
My website is: http://phantomimic.weebly.com/
You can follow me on Twitter: @Phantomimic