KDHamptons

KDHamptons.com: You have written your third children’s book, Best in Show, which is sold at Bookhampton. Is this book based on your infamous poodles- Gem and Mikimoto [who holds 88 ‘Best In Show’ titles]?

Karen LeFrak: The story is about a little girl named Abby who falls in love with a white Standard Poodle puppy named Gem, who one day becomes a champion show dog.

KDH: Are you planning on writing more children’s books in the future?
KL: Absolutely, my next book is going to be about dogs who help children.

KDH: What books did you read to your two sons when they were children?
KL: Goodnight Moon so many times that the pages fell out; The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Pat the Bunny- their first book; all of the Dr. Seuss books because of the fun rhymes, and all of the Margaret Wise Brown and Eric Carle books. I was asked to do a reading at the Eric Carle Museum [of Picture Book Art] in Amherst, Massachusetts. I am so excited and honored!

KDH: Describe your perfect day in the Hamptons? What do you like to do?
KL: Getting up at 6:30 or 7, walking my dogs around the pond and then to Squabble Lane Beach where they play in the sand, playing a tennis game, coming home and playing with the dogs again, having lunch, and in the evening having dinner with friends.

KDH: Do you have any special plans for this summer?
KL: In the summer we will be spending time with our grandson, and introducing him to the dogs so they can play together. The perfect image would be me babysitting, and pushing the carriage with both poodles at my side. I can’t go anywhere without “Miki” and Gem being there, too!

KDH: Is it true that you play the piano every day?
KL: I do play the piano every day. I don’t play as much as I used to because of the children’s books and my new grandson activity. I love to play four hand the most.

KDH: What are you most proud of?
KL: If I can sit down and feel proud of something, it is my husband and children- that makes me the happiest and gives me the warm, fuzzy feeling that everybody needs.

KDH: Are you a good cook? Do you have a favorite recipe that you could share with our readers?
KL: [Laughs] I am the worst cook in the world, the worst driver in the world, bad at prioritizing- everything seems important, and too sensitive! I am a teary-dreary- my friends laugh at me. And don’t ask me anything about business. My mother tried to teach me how to cook- I can make a few things- Bundt cake and I can make shrimp creole and Manhattan clam chowder. Actually, I am so bad that on my first date with my husband, he boxed the dinner I made and gave it to my mother to show how bad it was! [Go to the KDH recipe section for Karen’s Bundt cake recipe]