[MUSIC]
Yeah.
>> Owen?
>> He's good too.
>> Owen?
>> Cuz he has a pointy nose.
>> Owen!
>> Owen.
>> Yeah, yeah. >> I knew it was gonna be Owen.
>> Me too.
>> He wasn't even done, guys!
Give the boy a chance.
>> You all are good guessers.
>> That was a disguise.
It could've been any mouse.
And even though it is Owen, it could've been Chrysanthemum,
it could've been any mouse.
>> He always wears suspenders.
So there's a- >> Yeah.
>> I'm going to read my book Owen to you.
I wrote the words and I drew the pictures, and the story goes like this.
Owen had a fuzzy yellow blanket.
He'd had it since he was a baby.
He loved it with all his heart.
"Fuzzy goes where I go," said Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Upstairs, downstairs, in between, inside, outside, upside down.
"Fuzzy likes what I like," said Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Orange juice, grape juice, chocolate milk, ice cream, peanut butter, applesauce cake.
He's saying, Fuzzy is messy.
"Isn't he getting a little old to be carrying that thing around?" asked
Mrs Tweezers.
"Haven't you heard of the Blanket Fairy?" Owen's parents hadn't.
Mrs Tweezers filled them in.
That night, Owen's parents told Owen to put Fuzzy under his pillow.
In the morning, Fuzzy would be gone, but
the Blanket Fairy would leave an absolutely wonderful, positively perfect,
especially terrific, big boy gift in its place.
Owen stuffed Fuzzy inside his pajama pants and went to sleep.
"No Blanket Fairy," said Owen in the morning.
"No kidding," said Owen's mother.
"No wonder," said Owen's father.
"Fuzzy's dirty," said Owen's mother.
"Fuzzy's torn and ratty," said Owen's father.
"No," said Owen, "Fuzzy is perfect." And Fuzzy was.
Fuzzy played Captain Plunger with Owen.
He's saying, to the rescue!
Fuzzy helped Owen become invisible.
He's saying, I bet you can't see me.
>> And then his parents are like- >> [LAUGH]
>> Owen!
>> And Fuzzy was essential when it came to nail clippings and
haircuts and trips to the dentist.
"Can't be a baby forever!" said Mrs Tweezers.
"Haven't you heard of the vinegar trick?" Owen's parents hadn't.
Mrs Tweezers filled them in.
When Owen wasn't looking,
his father dipped Owen's favorite corner of Fuzzy into a jar of vinegar.
Owen sniffed it and and smelled it and sniffed it.
He picked a new favorite corner, then he rubbed the smelly corner
all around his sandbox, buried it in the garden, and dug it up again.
"Good as new," said Owen.
Fuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy anymore, but Owen didn’t mind.
He carried it, and wore it, and dragged it.
He sucked it, and hugged it, and twisted it.
"What are we going to do?" asked Owen's mother.
"School is starting soon," said Owen's father.
"Can't bring a blanket to school," said Mrs Tweezers.
"Haven't you heard of saying no?" Owen's parents hadn't.
Mrs. Tweezers filled them in.
"I have to bring Fuzzy to school," said Owen.
"No," said Owen's mother.
"No," said Owen's father.
Owen buried his face in Fuzzy.
He started to cry and would not stop.
"Don't worry," said Owen's mother.
"It'll be all right," said Owen's father.
And then suddenly Owen's mother said, "I have an idea." It
was an absolutely wonderful, positively perfect, especially terrific idea.
First she snipped and then she sewed, then she snipped again,
and sewed some more, snip, snip, snip, sew, sew, sew.
Dry your eyes, wipe your nose.
Hooray, hooray, hooray!
Now Owen carries one of his not-so-fuzzy handkerchiefs with him wherever he goes.
And Mrs. Tweezers
doesn't say a thing.
The end, yes.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Thank you.
>> What inspired you?
>> What inspired me?
I have a niece, who now is grown up, but
when she was little she had a blanket that she loved.
She called her blanket Tag and had a little tag sewn into it, and
she would put her finger through the loop of the tag, and
she would wrap it around her arm, and she loved her blanket.
And I had never known a child who loved a blanket so much.
And once we were at a family wedding, and
she left it at the wedding, and the family was halfway home.
And this was before people had cell phones.
And so her father had to drive back and go and get her blanket.
And that's what was the inspiration for my book,
Owen.