Ed Shankman, award-winning author of such books as “The Boston Balloonies,” “I Met a Moose in Maine One Day,” “The Cods of Cape Cod,” “When a Lobster Buys a Bathrobe,” and “Leo the Lazy Lizard,” among others, has relocated with his wife, Miriam, from their former home in New Jersey to Ipswich, Massachusetts. With 14 published works, Shankman and his creative partner, illustrator Dave O’Neill, have sold more than 200,000 books to date and are continuing to add to the Shankman & O’Neill collection. In 2024, they released “Leo the Lazy Lizard” and are currently working on another project to be released in the Spring of 2025.
According to Shankman, the rhyming picture books are for children 4-8 years old, and range from stories with meaningful messages to others that are pure fun, and many which combine both. “Some of our books are truly heartfelt,” Shankman said. He cites “Leo the Lazy Lizard” as an example. “While the other desert animals run and play all day, Leo lies in the sun. The other animals think he’s lazy and they make fun of him. But one day, the roadrunner wonders if Leo knows something the others don’t, so he goes and lies next to Leo. He feels the warmth of the sand, feels the sun shining down, hears the sounds, smells the scents, and sees the colors. One by one, the other animals join until they all understand that Leo isn’t Lazy at all; he’s simply paying attention.” Shankman believes this concept of mindfulness can hold real value for children. But he adds that a second powerful revelation is captured in the book’s closing lines: “Sometimes a friend who seems different than you/Can open your eyes to a new point of view.” “Here, Leo was the outcast. And now he is the hero,” Shankman said. “I’m hoping that’s a source of hope for the many children who feel left out or un-cool.”
Shankman also feels strongly about the message in another Shankman & O’Neill book – “The Sea Lion’s Friend.” “The Sea Lion is lonely until he makes friends with a seagull,” Shankman says. They are different in every way, yet they become best friends.” The book includes the following stanza: Who cares if one flew while the other was grounded/Or if one was thin while the other was rounded/Or if one was tall and the other was small/Being different, you see, made no difference at all!” “I once received a note from a mom,” Shankman recalled. “She said she had been talking to her young son about racial issues. Her son looked up at her and said, ‘Being different, you see, made no difference at all.’ You can’t imagine how much it meant to me that the child had received the message so clearly, understood it, and internalized it.”
According to Shankman, The Shankman & O’Neill collection features other meaningful books, including “The Bourbon Street Band is Back” which he calls an homage to the healing power of music; and “The Lake I Love” which he says captures the magic of childhood memories and is based on his own cherished childhood experiences.
The Shankman & O’Neill team also honored the unique relationship between a child and his grandmother in one of their top-selling books, “My Grandma Lives in Florida.” One of the stanzas from that book reads as follows: “When we go inside, Grandma gives me a kiss/In fact, there’s no place on my face she will miss/ I may wriggle and giggle and grumble and hiss/ But only a grandma can kiss you like this.”
While Shankman is proud of these warm-hearted works, he also believes in the power of pure fun and has dedicated some of his books to delivering exactly that. “My family’s culture was based on our ability to make each other laugh,” Shankman said. “We didn’t care who made the joke or at who’s expense, as long as it was funny. And much of our humor was based on randomness, silliness, ridiculousness.”
Shankman says he and O’Neill have captured that spirit in such books as “The Cods of Cape Cod,” “When a Lobster Buys a Bathrobe,” and “Where’s the Bathroom.” “’When a Lobster Buys a Bathrobe’ is great for very young children,” Shankman says, “because you don’t have to read the whole story. Any random page will do. The book features ridiculous scenarios such as when a lobster wears a tutu, when a lobster meets a movie star, when a lobster paints a masterpiece, and, of course, when a lobster buys a bathrobe. We even explore when a lobster writes a children’s book!” Shankman jokes that he had to do a lot of research for this book, which includes the following stanza: “When a lobster meets a unicorn, he always shows respect/There are simply no exceptions (And believe me, I have checked)/That’s just the way these lobsters are, according to my source/And then, of course, a unicorn’s no ordinary horse.”
Shankman says the “Cods of Cape Cod” is also in the pure fun category. “One of my favorite lines comes when the Cods throw a marshmallow roast for all their sea creature friends. The narrator says, ‘Though a Cod will not boast, they are well known to host the best roast on the coast!’”
“If you’re someone who appreciates silliness,” Shankman advises, “You might also try ‘Where’s the Bathroom’. It’s the story of a child who really needs to relieve himself but doesn’t know where the bathroom is. Every time he asks someone for directions – with his need to go growing more urgent by the minute – the people he asks tell him their life stories in painful detail, seemingly oblivious to the emergency. The child’s frantic frustration adds to the humor, making their inane small talk all the more absurd.”
And, of course, there’s “The Boston Balloonies” – a child’s-eye view of the city and the very first collaboration between Shankman & O’Neill. The story begins with the following stanza: “The Boston Balloonies float all over town/They whirl and they twirl, and they bounce up and down/With a wee and a whoosh and a swoosh and a swish/ they go swooshing and swishing wherever they wish.”
Shankman says he feels fortunate to have paired up with illustrator O’Neill. “In addition to his amazing talent as an illustrator overall, Dave has an uncanny ability to manifest nuanced emotions and attitudes in the characters’ facial expressions,” Shankman says. “There’s a page in “I Met a Moose in Maine One Day” where the moose is regaling the little boy with stories from the moose’s past. What’s amazing is that, without reading a word, you would know from the moose’s expression that he’s recounting a memory. Dave’s images bring my stories to life in ways I never imagined. And kids are absolutely mesmerized by them.”
Shankman says his entire life has been one long creative project. “In addition to writing children’s books, I performed with a band for many years as a songwriter and lead guitar player. I did a lot of oil painting. And I spent my professional career as a creative director and chief creative officer in the advertising industry, cultivating and managing teams of writers and artists.” He also gives an insight into his source of inspiration. “Rather than writing for children,” he says. “I’m actually writing as a child. I’ve never lost touch with the child within and I think back through my earliest memories every day. So you might say my books are written from one child to another.”
Shankman and his wife, Miriam, relocated to Massachusetts in May of 2023 to be closer to family. “We feel so fortunate to have landed in Ipswich,” Shankman says. “We love the town, the beautiful surrounding areas, the friendliness of our neighbors, and the amazing sense of history.” Shankman’s family used to vacation in Gloucester when he and his two sisters were small. Having fallen in love with the area, his parents bought a home in Manchester by the Sea in 1989 and were soon followed to the area by Shankman’s sisters, one of whom lives in Gloucester, the other in Danvers.
In addition to the books mentioned previously, the Shankman & O’Neill collection includes, “Monkey See. Zebra Do,” “A Whimsical Washington Night,” “Maddie and Liam at the Museum,” and “Champ and Me by the Maple Tree”. “We are extremely honored and grateful that so many families have made our books a part of their lives,” Shankman said. “I’ve known I wanted to be a children’s book author since I myself was a child. So creating these stories and sending them out into the world is truly the realization of a life-long dream.”
Shankman & O’Neill books are published by Arcadia Children’s Books and are for sale in many stores and through online sources. To learn more about Shankman & O’Neill, visit shankmanoneill.com.
