BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
Armadillos are unique and interesting animals, but they can also be a great deal of trouble. In Louisiana, they are known as “hard shell possums,” and in Georgia, they are known as “living speedbumps.” These little animals often fall victim to cars and various predators. Even when they manage to stay out of the road, they are a problem because they dig…and dig…and then dig some more, looking for the insects and other animals that make up their diet.
Local resident Janis Peterson had her first up-close-and-personal encounter with armadillos in 2013 when a family of the critters made a burrow underneath a shed in her yard and moved in. The holes they dug in the yard quickly became dangerous, so her husband, Art, started dealing with them. This happening stuck in her mind and she wrote the first chapter of a story about it. Her daughter read it to her eight-year-old son and he wanted more of the story.
Janis spent some time researching armadillos and completed the book over a couple of weeks in her spare time.
“I wrote it because I wanted my other grandchildren to enjoy it as well,” Peterson said. “It’s a good bedtime story or for any other time. I hope my grandchildren will read it to their children.”
The book follows the adventures of Amy and Archie, their neighbors under the shed, cottontail rabbits Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and their two children, Billy and Betty. All the animals worry about the attention of Peterson’s dog, Pepper, and Mr. Peterson, who often comes outside with his gun when the dog barks at night. They try several ways to avoid notice but finally conclude that they will have to find another place to live.
Peterson sent the story to her son, Sherman, founder of Rabbit Room Press (also a writer and playwright) in Nashville, soon after she completed it. He edited it, and she made the suggested changes. Then, she did not hear anything for a few years. That was until her family gathered for a celebration in June 2024 for the couple’s 55th anniversary in Jonesboro, Georgia. Sherman walked into the gathering carrying a wrapped box and set it in front of her.
“It was full of books,” Peterson said. “I was shocked.”
And such was the birth of “The True Adventures of Amy and Archie Dillo.” The front of the book states that it is “Published in celebration of Martha Janis Peterson’s 80th birthday” and carries the imprint of Shiloh Press in Lake Butler, FL (the Petersons’ farm). Not only had Sherman published her book, but her grandson, Aedan Peterson (24), had designed and drawn the cover art—taking after his father, Andrew, who is himself an illustrator.
Peterson said she may write another book at some point in the future, but she has a busy schedule with all her activities. Before retiring, she worked at the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler as a correctional probation officer for 16 years and, at other times, as a substitute teacher. She was employed at the pants factory in Lake Butler for two years and as a church secretary. Now she quilts and gardens and enjoys yard work, cans the produce from the garden, works with flowers, and loves crafts, sewing, and making memory quilts and bears. According to Art, she is the “best cook in the world” as well. She is also a member of the Sew-in-Seus, a group at First Christian Church in Lake Butler that makes dresses for girls in need in the mission field, many of which are made from pillowcases. One would like to say she stays busy and seems to have a font of energy to do it.
Janis’s first priority is her husband, Art, their children, and grandchildren. She speaks with them on the phone as often as possible and visits them frequently. Her other main priority is her faith, which she lives each day.
“The True Adventures of Amy and Archie Dillo “will be available for sale or can be viewed at the Mary Brown Public Library in Lake Butler, but the details have not been worked out yet. So, for now, Art is left wondering what his gracious and talented wife will be up to next, and he seems to be enjoying it.
