Bobbi Dooley Hunter has produced six children’s books and two school mascot murals among her works
Author, artist, teacher, muralist, and carver, Bobbi Dooley Hunter has been writing children’s books for 40 years. She is the author of six books to date, with two additional books ready for publication. She both writes and illustrates her books.
Hunter was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up with two older brothers. When she was 8 years old, her parents relocated the family in two cars and U-Haul trailers from Oregon through California deserts to Scottsdale, Arizona, leaving snow behind and finding the hot sun.
She was born with the heart of an artist, and her parents knew and supported it. She attended the University of Arizona and pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
“While in college, the director of the school told me that I would never make a living as an artist, and advised me to become a stenographer instead,” she said. “When I told my father what he had said, my father was furious and had a stern talk with the director, telling him in no uncertain terms, ‘My daughter needs to pursue what she loves most, and that’s art.’ I will always be grateful to my parents for fostering my creative gifts and for their support.”
Fate, she said, brought her to California with a passion to find work in the art field.
“I immediately found work in advertising agencies,” she said, “but after four years the pressure and the stress got to me, so I took a job as a bus driver, a job I thought would be much calmer. I became involved with Arts Outreach, and Connie Rohde asked me to teach mural design in her classroom.”
Hunter went on to teach art at Santa Ynez Elementary, Los Olivos Elementary, and Solvang Elementary schools for children in grades 1 through 8. She also became a sign painter/carver, a mascot artist for most of the local schools in the Valley, and a muralist, teaching students how to create huge, long murals on interior school walls. She’s painted water towers, oil derricks, equipment at Dunn School, and T-shirts for the Sedgewick Reserve’s Outdoor Classroom sessions, to name a few of her numerous projects.
“I love to paint, to create, and to teach art,” she said. “Kids keep me young. While on scaffolding, painting interior and exterior walls, I thought up stories to illustrate for children. My goal was to educate with fun stories and bright-colored art. The art part is easier for me than the writing part.”
Hunter says she finds inspiration in varied places. Her first book, titled “The Legend of the African Baobab Tree,” was inspired by a trip she and her husband took to Botswana, Africa.
“My husband, Ken, and I saved for a two-year trip, from 1975 to 1977, following the equator overland, visiting other continents on a $6-a-day budget, carrying only our backpacks. I told my husband that if I was any older, the trip would have killed me,” she said. “In Botswana, we sat in a baobab tree. The people told us legends about living around the lonely trees on the wide desert plains. I knew it would be a good story, and soon my book, ‘The Legend of the African Baobab Tree,’ was born.”
“Baobab trees are most unusual,” she explained. “They grow separately, not in forests. They are located on the African plains; they are not very tall, but they are very, very broad. I was told that some of the trees are so big around that even 50 men holding hands could not surround the trunk. We climbed into one of them, which was three stories tall with ladders reaching up to access each level. After I saw the tree, I sat down and drew it, made notes, and when I got home, I drew the pictures and made it into story form.”
Hunter then went to the effort of getting it out into the public.
Bobbi Hunter says she loves to paint, to create and to teach. Hunter is not afraid of heights as she paints the Spartan mascot on the side of the Los Olivos Elementary School. Hunter has painted the mascots for most of the schools in the Valley. Pictured is the Spartan mascot. Photos courtesy of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School
“After it was finished, I went to the Solvang Library and looked for children’s book publishers who would be interested in publishing my book,” she continued. “I found one who paid me $5,000. It was sold all over the world. ‘The Legend of the African Baobab Tree’ book is in the Smithsonian Institute. But I didn’t receive 1 cent from those sales. So, eventually, I sent a reversion letter to the publisher asking him to relinquish ownership of my book. He refused at first, but eventually, he succumbed. He said he had 1,000 copies in his possession and would burn them, but I asked for them back. I retrieved them and got in touch with the Teddy Bear Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa, asking if they would be interested in them. The woman I spoke to said she would, so I sent them to the Foundation, and they were distributed to underprivileged children.”
Hunter’s next book is titled “Scarecrows in the Garden.”
“I love scarecrows, so I thought I’d do a book called ‘Scarecrows in the Garden, the Alphabet Book A-Z,’ with directions on how to build a scarecrow and the different crops that scarecrows protect,” she said. “It’s an A-to-Z book about fruits and veggies, so children can see how plants grow before they are picked and eaten. Look out for the little gophers on each page. I really want to educate children with some cute pictures and a good story.”
Hunter continued to describe how some of her other books came about. One, “Dinosaurs, Dreams, and Ice Cream,” is inspired by a story by Barbra Goodyear Minar.
“I dedicated it to Barbra and her grandson, Christopher, who loved dinosaurs, and to my grandchildren and their wondrous imaginations,” she said. “Christopher loves dinosaurs, but they are big and scary. One night, the dinosaurs invited him into their world. Suddenly, he finds himself in a forest, solving a mysterious problem for them. Christopher bravely marches forward, looking for the dinosaurs’ stolen ice cream.”
“’Savannah’s Family Farm’ was inspired by the fact that family farms are hard to find anymore. Big Ag has taken over,” she explained. “The story is about a mom and dad, their two children, and their dog, who grow all kinds of warm and cool weather crops on their farm. The book teaches kids about where their food comes from and about farming techniques.”
Hunter’s work is admired by her audience.
“Bobbi is a fabulous, creative, local artist and writer who uses vibrant colors and great visual expressions in all her books,” said Maggie Le Pley, a friend of Hunter’s.
“I am excited to get my stories and art into the hands of children around the world,” said Hunter. “And one more lesson for those budding artists — you can make a living doing what you love, and don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
All of Hunter’s books are available locally at The Book Loft in Solvang, on Amazon.com, and at Bookshop.org. A portion of the book sales are donated to your local bookstores through Bookshop.org only.
For more information, email bdhunter525@gmail.com.
NOTE: This is an abridged version of the story. The complete story can be found at santaynezvalleystar.com.
