Brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey grew up around Houston and now live in Austin. They wrote and illustrated a children’s book called “The Old Truck” and will soon publish a follow-up called “The Old Boat.”
Jarrett Pumphrey
“It’s a great road trip from Houston, Austin. And you drive past all these old farms. And [Jerome] spotted these trucks, these old trucks sort of set out to pasture.”
“I was like, I could see a truck being, you know, a constant throughout a story and the world changing around that truck.”
Jerome Pumphrey
“Ultimately we started thinking about our own family. And, you know, going back way back to my great grandmother, she had a farm she bought herself with money that she earned picking cotton. She was really all about grit and determination, perseverance. She passed that spirit down all the way. It got all the way to us. And so I think that’s ultimately what the book is about. It’s about hard work, determination, you know, doing what it takes to make your dreams come true.”
“We made more than 250 stamps to create each of the images in the book. It feels a little bit timeless or classic. You know, it feels like something I would have enjoyed reading as a kid.”
“Shortly after this book came out, we began work on the follow up to this book called ‘The Old Boat.’ In a lot of ways, it’s also based on our experiences in our family. Our grandmother used to take us fishing in Galveston. And so we’re pretty excited about it. It comes out in March.”
“What’s cool is that ‘The Old Truck’ came out and then we did see it being received so well. I think ‘The Old Boat’ is going to be a perfect fit.”
