Shelby Township 10th grader publishes children’s book about overcoming nerves

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – “Started off as a doodle just in class,” says author Jack Barrette.

Barrette is now beginning the 10th grade, but it was nearly a decade ago when the doodles from a first-grade project began what is today a published children’s book.

Before the doodles, 7-year-old Barrette had just been asked a tall task: to be a ring bearer in his uncle’s wedding.

“I had no clue what anything was. What a wedding was, what a tux was, anything in a wedding really,” said Barrette.

This inspired him to write the first drafts of “The Cat in the Tux,” the story of a young cat whose wedding experience reflected Barrette’s experience.

Flipping pages to 2023, the children’s book is now published after being rediscovered in a mid-pandemic Barrette family cleanup of some old boxes and bookshelves.

“So we were just cleaning out the books there, and we saw the original copy, and we’re like, ‘Well, I wonder if we can publish this.’ So, me and my mom did some research, and we found Page Publishing, and we put the book in for review, and it turns out not one, but two wanted to publish my book,” Barrette said.

Overwhelmed with excitement, the ball was rolling, and soon enough, promotional videos were being made, and the book found its way online, into vending machines, and being read to students now by his old teachers.

“How many kids write little, short stories or they draw pictures that have these awesome characters, and they do it when they’re young, and they tuck it somewhere, and it never ever comes out ever again, and you have someone who’s held onto it all these years, dusted it off and says ‘Hey there’s a whole lot of potential here,’” says Janice Dobis, the art teacher at Beacon Tree Elementary.

“I’d definitely like to make another book. I had an amazing time making this book,” says Barrette.