Carpentersville author tells tail of Minutka, her bilingual dog

There are some dog owners who find it a challenge to communicate with their furry best friend. An authoritative command such as "sit" might be met with a blank stare, as if it had been given in a foreign language.

But 4-year-old Minutka, a Parson Russell terrier (the breed was known as the Jack Russell terrier until recently) who lives in Carpentersville with her owner, Anna Mycek-Wodecki, understands not only "sit," but "siadacac."

Minutka is Mycek-Wodecki's beloved family pet, and is the inspiration for her new children's book "Minutka: The Bilingual Dog."

This is the artist and graphic designer's second book. Her first, "How Does It Feel?" which she illustrated, was a collaboration with a friend, author Mary Beth Goddard.

Mycek-Wodecki, who came here from Warsaw with her husband more than 20 years ago, speaks both Polish and English in her home. While visiting the family, her daughter's friend noticed that the dog was bilingual -- following commands in both languages.

"She said 'Mrs. Wodecki, I just realized that your dog is smarter than I am,'" Mycek-Wodecki said.

"It brewed in my head for a couple of years, and when I was working at a gallery in Barrington, I decided to do little sketches because the little Jack Russell I have is amazing.

"So I started to dwell on an idea that the culture here in the U.S. is changing so much. I've been here for 25 years, and I've noticed over the last several years that it's changed," Mycek-Wodecki said.

"The children are not ashamed of their native language anymore and they would like to keep it up."

"When we came over here my daughter was little; she's 26 right now. She was ashamed to be spoken to in Polish, for example. But right now the culture is changing, and I think it's fabulous that children are becoming at least bilingual -- if not more. So I thought to myself, why not make a little cute story about a bilingual dog?" she added.

By coincidence, as Mycek-Wodecki was finishing her first draft, she attended a trade show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago where she stumbled upon a booth featuring bilingual books.

She realized she had nothing to lose, so she sent the publisher her manuscript. Just under a year later, the book was published.

The publishing company, Milet, is an independent publisher of books for children, young adults and adults. According to its Web site, the company publishes the widest range of bilingual children's books, featuring more than 300 titles in English paired with more than 25 other languages.

Wodecki used pencil sketches to illustrate the 48-page book. She describes the black-and-white book as "minimalistic," and wanted to keep the pictures simple so the focus would stay on the dog.

"The lesson is that every child should be proud of their culture. I connect the dog to the child," she said.

"It is also that we treat animals as part of the family. To be in a bilingual family, the animal gains another perspective and is a little bit smarter, I think -- and more intelligent because they do have to develop their brain into different directions. I think it's a positive little story; it's very simple."

The book is laid out so that the English copy is at the top of each page, with its Polish translation on the bottom.

Mycek-Wodecki's prose and illustrations bring the reader inside Minutka's head, where the dog reveals that she likes to give kisses, can shake paw, chases her tail, and doesn't like walking on a leash.

By April, the book will be available in Turkish, Spanish, Italian, French and Chinese.

Minutka -- whose name means "little minute" in, of course, Polish -- is described by Mycek-Wodecki as "creative, very stubborn, and very spoiled."

"I've always had dogs all my life, but this is unbelievable. She is half-human, half-animal," Mycek-Wodecki said.

The family enjoys the TV show "Frasier," and always loved the character Martin Crane's dog, Eddie.

"My husband, who is not very fond of dogs, said, if -- IF -- I would ever have a dog, that would be it, because this is the cutest dog I've ever seen," she recalled.

Shortly after this statement, Mycek-Wodecki made a trip to a breeder in Libertyville and came home with Minutka.

Minutka's so cute, in fact, that a plush toy has been developed in her likeness to go along with the book.

Mycek-Wodecki's friend Kim Zoph, who owns Steeplejack Books in West Dundee, put Mycek-Wodecki in touch with a licensing representative in New York, who made it happen.

Zoph is looking forward to Nov. 10, when Mycek-Wodecki will hold a book signing at her store from 1 to 3 p.m., featuring Minutka herself, live and "in dog."

"I think it's charming," said Zoph about the book.

"It's absolutely charming and whimsical and wonderful."

The book is available at retailers and online for $9.95.