Tea author Kari Huff inspires kids and adults through a tale about a farm cat.
“Floppy Cat” is based off of a real cat named “Floppy” who grew up on a farm in Madison, where Huff and her family lived three years ago.
Floppy – along with his siblings, Flippy and Shaky – were born without any balance. As a result, Floppy would sway when he walked and often fell. Huff said the disability is a result of an undeveloped cerebellum at birth. The cats are healthy and normal otherwise, she said.
Although all three cats had the disability, Huff said Floppy never gave up.
“He was always moving and on the go,” Huff said. “He was inspiring for a cat.”
So Huff, under the pseudonym “Kari Kay,” turned Floppy’s disorder into an adventure-filled story to teach readers that it’s ok to be different.
In fact, different is pretty cool, she said.
Huff, who moved to Tea in October, is a life success coach. As a coach, Huff helps people reach certain goals in their life. Using the story of Floppy, Huff teaches others how to meet challenges, never hold back and never give up on what they want.
“I never knew I was a children’s book author,” Huff said. “I’ve always helped people reach their goals. I found the book was a way to reach goals with a number of people.”
For children, Huff said the book is a way to help children grow.
“Kids get to see they are all created in a special way and they have unique gifts to use to become and do all they can be,” she said.
Huff said people tend to hold back in life.
“They have so many great dreams,” she said. “And Floppy exemplifies that.”
One day Huff said she found Floppy five miles from home, showing that even with his disability, no challenge was too cumbersome for him.
An excerpt at the back of the book reiterates that:
“Keep your whiskers held high and your tail to the sky. Exciting things will happen, just give it to try.”
Since the book printed, Huff said there has found huge success. However, with an easy-to-remember name and a character that’s hard to love, the Floppy Cat’s success is no surprise.
There are “Floppy Cat” t-shirts, hats, bookmarks, stickers and soon, even “Floppy Cat” flip-flops. Huff, along with area musicians Laura Fjellstad and Eric Miller recorded a CD to coincide with the book.
“The more you can reiterate Floppy Cat’s message to kids, they will see the positive behavior,” she said.
The 10-song disc includes tracks like “Flip Flop and Sway” and “Let Your Floppy Cat Shine.”
And there’s more “Floppy Cat” to come. She’s already working on a sequel to the book. The sequel will introduce the family’s 110-pound Bernese Mountain dog Ben, who Huff said has a little bit of floppiness in him.
“Ben fits perfectly into the storyline,” she said. “He’s so big and uncoordinated for a dog, but he loves life.”
He has several traits readers will like, Huff said. For example, Ben spins his tail rather than wagging it.
Huff began working on “Floppy Cat” in August 2007. Huff spent a day at Medary Gardens in Brookings, where she wrote the majority of the book. The next six months were spent refining “Floppy Cat” until it was ready for printing. It took one year from start to finish to write, edit, illustrate and print “Floppy Cat.” Huff had 5,000 copies of the book printed.
Huff held a book signing Oct. 18 at the Empire Mall. The book is sold at several Sioux Falls locations like Cover to Cover, Zambroz, Hannah’s Hallmark and three of Sioux Falls Hy-Vee stores.
The best promotion has been the “Floppy Cat” Web site, www.floppycat.com she said. On the Web site, visitors can order the book and cd, read the Floppy Cat’s blog and find parenting tools.
Twenty percent of that profit from each book goes to the Children’s Miracle Network in Sioux Falls.
“People can buy something, but give at the same time,” Huff said.
And although she’s only working with the local CMN chapters, Huff said she hopes to support the charity on a national level.
Also, by the end of the year, she would like to be a guess on “The Ellen Degeneres Show.”
“I can already see her singing and dancing,” Huff said.
Huff moved to Tea in October. She has two sons, Connor 15 and Tate, 11. Huff is also one of the second authors to live in Tea.
In fact, the two authors are neighbors. Deckert wrote her book, “Take Care: Taking Care of Yourself While Taking Care of Another” in September 2007.