Bird Key resident pens children’s books

Entering a room, it’s hard to miss Al Lowe.

With his childlike energy  and colorful outfits, it only makes sense for Lowe, a Bird Key resident, to be a writer of children’s books.

“People always ask me, ‘How can you write for a child? You don’t have any,’” Lowe said. “Yeah, but I was one.”

Under the pen name Mifflin Lowe, he has published three children’s books, two in the last year; a fourth will be published later this year.

“Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z. A Bedtime Story,” published in 2014, is about a family’s rituals of getting to sleep.

“Wilton Wilberry & the Magical Christmas Wishing Well,” published last year, is about a little boy named Wilton who always receives socks or underwear for Christmas, while his brother and sister open the “good stuff.” Then, Wilton finds a magical wishing well and wishes for and receives everything he wants.

“Ultimately, nobody likes him anymore,” Lowe said. “He turns things back to normal, and it’s a message that Christmas isn’t really about stuff and presents. It’s about love.”

In upcoming months, Lowe will publish “Little Dog/Big Bark, Big Dog/Little Bark,” about two dogs with different dreams.

“People are always treating the little dog as so cute, and she doesn’t want to be cute,” Lowe said. “Then, there’s a big dog, and he wants to dance. He doesn’t want to be a guard dog and all tough. They meet and become best friends.”

His first children’s book, “Beasts by the Bunches,” was published in 1987.

The illustrator of Lowe’s books is Martina Crepulja, a former student at the Ringling College of Art & Design. She now lives in her native Bosnia, and although she has never met Lowe face-to-face, the two collaborate together on the books.

“In all my time, I’ve never met an artist who’s been more cooperative and talented,” Lowe said. 

Lowe and his wife, Patti, moved to Bird Key five years ago from Providence, R.I. 

Lowe worked previously in the advertising industry in Boston. He wrote the old T.J.Maxx jingle, “You get the max for the minimum.”

“Working in advertising, I learned to think in terms of ideas and concepts, rather than just words,” Lowe said. “I would think of something people could understand quickly and hopefully for a long time — something, ideally, that is catchy.”

Lowe has also published three humor books, including the “Cheapskate’s Handbook” in 1992, which sold 220,000 copies.

“To me, writing a book is like doing a crossword puzzle,” he said. “You get an idea, and it’s like filling in the blanks.”

Lowe’s books are available on Amazon, and “Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z. A Bedtime Story” can be purchased at the madeby Gallery at the Ringling College of Art & Design.