New children’s book benefits Petersburg’s historic Battersea estate.
Much has been written about Petersburg’s historic Battersea. But the Revolutionary War era estate as the backdrop for an illustrated children’s book starring a Chinese toy dog? “That’s definitely a first,” says Toni Clark, executive director of the Battersea Foundation.
Petersburg entrepreneur Kimberly Ann Calos wrote Lula Belle’s Big Battersea Adventure, illustrated by British artist Phil Lewis, with “children and adults of all ages” in mind. In the book, Lula Belle, the author’s eight-year old Shih Tzu and the story’s main protagonist, journeys to some of Petersburg’s most iconic sites, including Battersea, the colonial plantation built by the city’s first mayor John Barister on the banks of the Appomattox River in 1768.
Kimberly Ann Calos
“In April I called my friend Toni Clark and told her we needed to write a book about Petersburg featuring Lula Belle to benefit Battersea,” says Calos. The mansion and surrounding 35-acre parcel are listed on the state and national registers of historic places. It has undergone several phases of renovation in the past 20 years and was featured on the PBS series “Mercy Street.”
A native of Hopewell, Calos moved to Petersburg in 2005, where she has owned Petersburg Pickers, a small business focusing on estate liquidations, since the 1990s. She writes a weekly column for The Progress-Index, a local daily newspaper.
Calos said she had the idea for her book after Lula Belle was named “Pet of the Month” at the Clarks’ beach apartment complex. “Knowing most everyone loves a cute animal, we decided to use Lula Belle as the vehicle to showcase Petersburg,” she says.
Calos then reached out to Lewis, who works from his studio in Cornwall in the southwest of Britain, asking him to contribute illustrations. “A generous soul and lover of history, he immediately agreed,” Calos says.
And Clark says that the book’s publication comes just in time for Battersea’s 250th anniversary events in 2018. “Lula Belle’s Big Battersea Adventure featuring Battersea and including favorite historic sites throughout Old Towne Petersburg is the perfect icing on our birthday celebration.”
Lula Belle’s Big Battersea Adventure is available for $20 at Petersburg Pickers or from the Battersea Foundation. BatterseaFound.org
