photo by: Contributed

The titular "King Froderick" — also known as Frodo — is pictured to the left, along with his "court jester," Huxley.

The Cross household in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is rife with pets — three dogs, three cats, a tarantula, a few fish.

One of them — a dog named Frodo — has found himself the titular character in a pair of children’s books, and the author of those books will be making the trip to Lawrence later this week. Brian Paul Cross, the author of the “King Froderick” book series, will be selling and signing copies of his books at the Raven Book Store Friday afternoon.

photo by: Contributed

Brian Paul Cross

Cross isn’t a full-time author, though; his day job is teaching biology at Tulsa Community College. But he said he has always enjoyed writing short stories, with some of his works having been published in literary journals, and he has painted and drawn for around 10 years. It started with painting murals on his children’s walls.

“I liked that so much — and we ran out of wall space — that I started doing canvases,” Cross said. “And then I just kind of brought the two together into these children’s books.”

It turned out that the family’s pets were a perfect subject for children’s books, given that the family had already developed back stories and personalities for each of them. In Frodo’s case, Cross said, developing the dog’s persona began when he noticed Frodo tended to hold his paw in a certain way.

photo by: Contributed

The cover of Brian Paul Cross’ children’s book “King Froderick of Basschundia” is pictured. Cross will be selling and signing copies of his two “King Froderick” books at the Raven Book Store Friday afternoon.

“It seemed like he was just kind of inviting you to come up and kiss his paw … so whenever we saw him like that, I started saying ‘Kiss the paw, commoner,'” Cross said, adopting a snooty, royal tone. “And from that, it just kind of spiraled.”

Making characters out of family pets started all the way back when Cross and his wife first met while working at the Tulsa Zoo, he said. Shortly after moving in together, they were already making up stories about their lively group of pets. One pair of dogs, for example, became “truancy officers” for the school down the street from their home because of their habit of barking at children as they passed by.

Transforming the 30-second bit he performed around the family’s home into a book came naturally, Cross said. Soon, Frodo as King Froderick was joined by another of the family’s pets: Huxley, another dog, became his court jester.

“(Frodo) needed a foil; he needed a ‘straight man,'” Cross said. “Right from the beginning, we had Huxley there.”

Other characters joined as the story required. A family cat, Tiny Kitten, stars in the first book as the court executioner and in the second as an army general. Another cat, Luna, is cast as King Froderick’s steward.

photo by: Contributed

Tiny Kitten holds key roles in both “King Froderick” books, first as court executioner and then as an army general.

The plot of the second book, “King Froderick at War,” was even based on real-life events. The book’s antagonist is a basset hound called “The Pony.” Cross said the dog in real life was with the family only for a short while and wreaked considerable havoc before being re-homed to a home in the country that was a better fit. In its fictional form, the short-term pet was portrayed as an invader of King Froderick’s kingdom.

“He ruled the house for about four months before we faced reality,” Cross said. “We’d always kind of wanted a bloodhound, but we just had too many other pets, and we didn’t have enough space.”

The books started with an early version prior to the pandemic in 2018. Then, Cross put together the second book during the pandemic, this time in a larger format with more splashes of color in its illustrations. He’d eventually go back and do the same thing for the first volume, resulting in today’s versions of the books.

It’s the type of story that’s most fun read aloud, Cross said, something he knows from personal experience after reading the first book to his children. They’re now ages 12 and 15, but at the time were right around the books’ target age range.

“I think adults can appreciate it, but I think where the real magic happens is when you’ve got an adult that’s reading this book to a kid,” Cross said.

Cross’ signing at the Raven will be his first event branching out of Oklahoma. He has plans for some signings in Arkansas later this summer and also is working on his next book, a middle-grade fantasy book called “Tales of the Ogre Guard.”

The signing at the Raven is set for 3 to 4 p.m. Friday. More information about Cross’ King Froderick books is available at kingfroderick.com. The books are also for sale on the Raven’s website, along with more information about the signing.