Andrea Skyberg knows “Snickeyfritz” isn’t exactly a household word, but she’s hoping it will become one with the release of her first book.
“Snickeyfritz,” a tale for kids, follows three sisters as they’re stuck inside the house on a rainy day. Their grandfather, Papa Pumpernickel, sends them on an indoor treasure hunt with the promise of a prize at the end.
Growing up, this unusual word was heard often by the Milwaukee author and her sibling, who spent a lot of time with their own grandparents. “When we were at the lake with my grandpa, he’d ask us if we saw the snickeyfritz character in the woods,” Skyberg said.
Of course there was no such thing, but the children enjoyed looking for it – and stretching their imaginations. In writing this book, Skyberg recycles the concept, asking her book’s three young girls – Piper, Pepper and Penelope – to figure out the meaning of phrases we don’t use much these days to move forward in their treasure hunt.
Using the old-fashioned words and phrases was again a nod to her grandparents, Skyberg said, so you’ll see things like pipsqueaks, pixiedoodles, fiddlesticks and cattywampus in the book – but don’t worry that younger readers won’t follow the story. There’s a helpful glossary of the terms in the back.
Part of developing the story for Skyberg literally involved creating the characters. As an artist, her specialty was big fiber sculptures, so she applied that skill to the task of building her story.
All of the characters are life-size dolls made of masking tape that was then painted to create their clothes and features. Skyberg used her own artwork and costumes for hair, and even wove old letters from her grandmother into the hair of one of the girls.
The family of characters now resides in front of the fireplace at Skyberg’s Milwaukee bungalow, where all the photography for the book was done. Skyberg has been taking several of the characters out a bit to promote the book, which isn’t an easy task.
“They’re not heavy, but they are cumbersome,” she said.
To keep the book project exactly as they wanted, Skyberg and her husband Michael Greer started their own printing company called Wooden Nickel Press. The whole book project began when their first child was a year old and Skyberg and Greer felt ready for something new.
“We wanted to spend time as a family and work as a family,” she said. “This was our chance to try it. We decided to give it some time and see what we could do with the book.”
The book officially goes on sale at the end of May, but you can buy it now at Rebooked, 5924 W. North Ave., and The Funky Frog, 6241 S. 27th St.
Skyberg said she sold some books at an event a few months back and walked away feeling excited about the experience.
“After I went home I was thinking how cool it was that people are reading the book to their kids right now,” she said. “When I step back and think about that, it’s very rewarding.”
