CHICO — The idea for children’s book “George the Alligator Finds a Home” came to author Margaret Sansom in a dream.
The book, which is about an small alligator with no teeth or tail who is adopted by a family, was published in 2022. Sansom, a Chico State alumna, had never written a book before.
“I just woke up one day and typed it out,” said Sansom, who was 83 years old when the book was published.
The dream came to Sansom in 2005, but the book didn’t get published until 17 years later. She thought up the pictures, too, which were illustrated by Cydney Bittner.
“People liked the story,” she said when she talked about it to friends and family.
Sansom had a friend at book publisher Red Penguin Books, who recommended Bittner to her. She and Bittner met on Zoom and collaborated, and Red Penguin then published the book.
“I liked the story,” Sansom said. “I went to a class reunion in Red Bluff and a lady there had an 8-year-old son who read the book and really liked it. It had just been published.”
Sansom’s cousin’s grandsons, who are 4 and 6, liked it as well.
“The illustrations were exactly as I dreamed them,” Sansom said. “The part where George sticks his head out of the window, I had that in mind after I saw a dog stick his head out of the window. It was great for George.”
In touch
Sansom started reading at the age of 4. She had a next door neighbor growing up who was three years older, and when Sansom was 6, she started reading at that friend’s level of books. So, she missed some of the young children’s books.
“I love reading,” she said. “I read ketchup bottles at restaurants. If there are words, I read them.”
She is still friends with her former neighbor, who lives in Stockton.
Sansom spent her junior and senior years of high school in Red Bluff and attended Chico State for her undergrad degree in history.
Sansom was a proofreader, reporter and editor for the Wildcat newspaper at Chico State, which subsequently became the Chico News & Review. (The student paper now is the Orion.) She also worked as a summer intern at the Chico Enterprise-Record in 1958. She graduated from Chico State in 1961 and received her teaching credential in 1962.
She moved to Barstow, where she currently resides, and taught at a continuation high school from 1970 until 2004. She taught at-risk kids.
“With at-risk kids, when you get through to them, you know you’re getting through,” she said. “Regular high school students say what they think you want to hear.”
Sansom taught many different types of classes at Central High School in Barstow, including history, English, music history, record keeping and art. Sansom’s teaching earned her the nickname “Ms. Sam,” which she loves. She would run into students at grocery stores, and they would call her that.
She said some students she taught at the continuation high school had been kicked out of regular high school and some chose to leave. Some students had been bullied, some had “atrocious” family lives, some of their parents didn’t want them and some parents were in jail.
Sansom recalled having a positive influence on a female student who worked on a float for a parade with her.
“Her mother said she had never done anything like that before,” Sansom said.
She still sees her former students out and about sometimes. Some of her students from Bishop invited her to class reunions.
“Margaret has a heart for kids and is a wonderful teacher,” long-time friend Dana Chandler said.
Reader to author
Samson is a member of two virtual book clubs, one being fiction and the other non-fiction. She wrote non-fiction as part of her summer masters thesis at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She wrote a 90-page epilogue to “War and Peace.”
“It was written as though Tolstoy had written it,” she said. “It was fun to write. One of my teachers let me use his office to type in.”
She graduated in 1974.
Chandler, who is Sansom’s college roommate’s daughter, loved the “George the Alligator Finds a Home” and read it to her students. Chandler retired from teaching but since there was a shortage of teachers in Washington State, where she lives, she’s been subbing or completing short -term contracts at a school there. Chandler teaches special education.
Chandler not only loved the story but the illustrations as well.
“The pictures are wonderful; they are watercolor cartoons but realistic,” she said.
One of her students, a little girl with autism who needs extra support, wanted to touch the book and loved George.
“He’s just like me, different,” the girl said.
The girl realized George didn’t have a tail and felt sad because he was in a cage and couldn’t play with the other animals until he was adopted by a family in the story.
“She loved the book — it was a heartwarming moment for me,” Chandler said. “I would love to get my hands on more of Margaret’s books.”
Far reach
Sansom plans to write a sequel about ice cream and pie-loving George, who goes on a diet. She said there is a subliminal message in the sequel not to judge people who are overweight.
Gina Pigott, a member of a personal development community with Sansom who has been coaching Sansom, said that “her goal was to write a book.” Pigott said she gives the book as a present to mothers at baby showers she attends.
“It’s awesome and I was so excited to see the book come to life,” Pigott said. “It’s important to make books attractive to kids and it’s a lesson for kids about not judging people.”
Pigott said she plans to buy “Ms. Sam’s” sequels.
“Everyone in our community is so inspired by her,” Pigott said.
Pigott and Sansom visited the Grand Ol’ Opry outside of Nashville, Tenn. Sansom has a little wooden figure that says “hug” on it, which she offers to people.
“She asks people if she can give them a real hug,” Pigott said. “She has made a difference her whole life, and writing for children is a wonderful thing so she can share her wisdom and experience.”
“George the Alligator Finds a Home” is available at barnesandnoble.com or on Amazon.
