Cindy Johnston lives
in Kentucky with her husband and daughter. Cindy has
been writing and drawing since she was young. She
won awards in high school for her artwork and now
has an internet business where she has sold nearly a
hundred of her whimsical watercolor paintings of
Scottish Terriers. Mrs. Johnston has also written
many children’s books. In 2000 at the Heartland
Writer’s Conference both of Mrs. Johnston’s entries
were selected as one of the four finalist and "Zip,
Burp, and Hula" went on to win second place.
Cindy states, "There are two things I hope that
children (and adults) take to heart after
reading this story. First I want them to see
God’s love. Though many children may hear about
God’s love in church and at home it is a
difficult concept to grasp, even for adults. I
wanted to present the love of God in a way that
would make sense to a young mind. To show in a
practical way that God really does love everyone
enough to answer their cries for help.
Another thing I
wanted to help children understand is that it is
sometimes hard to be yourself. This happens to be a
personal struggle of mine. Even now I can find
myself being so preoccupied with pleasing others
that I miss the fun of just being who God created me
to be. I hope this story helps children to relax a
bit about them self and to just enjoy who they are
in God.