NEW BETHLEHEM – A lifelong love of horses has inspired a new children’s book for one local author.
“Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home,” authored by Sky Fisher, tells the story of an American mustang’s journey from California to his forever home in Pennsylvania.
The book is inspired by Fisher’s Palomino Mustang, Fabio, that she met and unexpectedly adopted in 2023 while volunteering at Mending Hope Equine Rescue in Fairmount City.
“Fabio was a stallion in the Devil’s Garden herd in California,” she explained earlier this week, noting that he was rounded up in 2020 or 2021, before ending up at Mending Hope. “While this is his journey, it could also be about any mustang’s journey.”
Describing herself as “that little horse crazy 5-year-old,” Fisher said that she’s always been infatuated with horses and writing.
“I used to skip school in elementary school to stay home and write,” Fisher said. “My first books were always about horses.”
And while her writing continued into adulthood — first as a travel writer and most recently as a SEO ghostwriter — Fisher said she found herself missing the “fun fiction writing” associated with children’s books.
“I have four nieces and nephews, and I was toying with the idea of writing a book for them,” she said. “But, I could never quite decide what I wanted to write about.”
Upon finding inspiration in Fabio, Fisher said she was surprised at how fast the story and the publishing process came together.
“Once I had the idea, the story just flowed,” she said, noting that she wrote the first draft of the book in about an hour, with the publishing process taking around eight months to complete. “It all happened very fast for children’s book standards.”
Aside from learning the ins and outs of self-publishing, Fisher said the most challenging part of the process was finding an illustrator who was able to work quickly and draw horses well.
“I realized that people who are not familiar with horses like to draw them with their legs in the wrong spaces,” Fisher said, adding that she was lucky to have connected with Brazilian illustrator Vivian Saad through a Facebook group.
“She did a great job,” Fisher continued, noting that she was so excited when she saw the illustration of Fabio for the first time. “It was so cute.”
She added that she also felt the same level of excitement when she saw and held the book for the first time.
“It was really cool to be able to hold it in my hands for the first time and see it all together instead of on a screen,” Fisher said.
With the book finally in hand, Fisher said she hopes “Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home,” is not only entertaining for children, but helps raise awareness for mustangs and how many of them end up on the east coast.
“I want it to be a fun story for the kids,” she said, pointing out that she wrote the book with “little Sky” in mind. “But I’m hopeful that it also helps promote the mustangs.”
In fact, $2 from every book purchased will be donated to mustang rescues, including Mending Hope Equine Rescue, that help save, train and adopt horses across the country.
“Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home” is currently available for purchase at www.fabulousfabiobooks.com and Sparrow Books in Clarion. The book will also be sold on Amazon in the near future.
As part of the official book release, which was held this past Tuesday, Fisher encouraged the public to visit Sparrow Books now until Nov. 6 to vote in the kids’ Fabio coloring contest. Prizes will be awarded to the winning colorings.
Looking to the future, Fisher said readers can expect at least four more books featuring Fabio, as well as a book featuring her other mustang, Moon.
“I have a million ideas,” she said, adding she hopes to release the rest of the Fabio books next year. “Most of them are going to be horse books.”
She said she is also currently working on producing Fabio plushies and hopes to be able to offer book and plushie gift sets, as well as boxed book sets in the future.
“I’m hoping to turn Fabio into something that the kids recognize,” she said, pointing to the stories of other famous mustangs that she used to follow as a kid. Fisher said she would also like to host some meet-and-greet events with Fabio sometime next year. “We have a lot of plans.”
Reflecting on her experience so far, Fisher said it’s hard for her to believe that two of her biggest dreams — owning a horse and writing a book — have finally become a reality.
“Five-year-old Sky would be very ecstatic,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to think about that.”
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