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Arts & Entertainment

Fenton Woman Writes Christian Children's Book

'Who's Your Best Friend' is for preschool through fourth- to fifth-grade; tells about God as as the ultimate and forever Best Friend.

Ilene Stephanie (Prodanas) Lasco, of Fenton, wasn’t thinking about becoming a children’s book author. But, with three new grandchildren this year, she found she had a message to share, Lasco said.

“Who’s Your Best Friend,” which will be available mid-month, is the result.

It’s a Christian message about the ultimate and forever Best Friend — God, she said. The book is geared for preschool through lower elementary grades (fourth to fifth).

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“Hopefully it will be a resource for home-schooled families, Christian churches, Sunday school programs, Bible and Christian schools, Christian summer camps and Christian bookstores,” Lasco said. “It follows the path of friends in your life.”

The cover of the book is an illustration by Mike Woodcock, of Orlando, who based it on a photograph Lasco has of her two oldest children, Todd Lasco and Kelly Lasco Glynn, she said.

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“I had a wonderful illustrator,” Ilene Lasco said. “He did a great job with all the illustrations.

“It didn’t take me very long to accumulate all my thoughts and get them typed on the computer,” she said.

After that, her book sat for about a year and a half, while Lasco researched Christian publishers online.

“I think God steered me on the right path,” she said.

She worked with Bardolf and Company, from Sarasota, Fla. after hearing about it through a neighbor. The neighbor, Barbara Feltquate, lives near Phil and Ilene Lasco’s home in Florida, Ilene Lasco said. Feltquate wrote “Kiddish Yiddish,” a children’s book that tells about Jewish culture and traditions in a rhyming format.

“She put me in touch with her editing and publishing company,” Lasco said.

After it’s published mid-month, Lasco’s book will be available at with a future book signing date to be scheduled, she said. “Who’s Your Best Friend” can also be obtained through Amazon.com and BardolfandCompany.com. Signed copies will be available online through Bardolf and Company, if the purchaser provides a reference to whom the book is for.

Now that she’s a published author, her editor asked if she has an idea for another, Lasco said.

“I am thinking about it,” she said. “I’ve got something cooking. I don’t know when and how it will take place.”

Ilene Lasco and her husband, Phil Lasco, own Lasco Ford in Fenton. Two of their sons, Matt Lasco and Jay Lasco, manage the business, Ilene Lasco said. She and Phil have three sons and one daughter, and eight grandchildren, Jack, Luke and Finn in Texas; triplets Emma, Grace and Morgan, who attend eighth grade in Fenton; Maxx, and Olivia.

Phil and Ilene Lasco both graduated from as did all of their children. They attend The Rock Church in Fenton.

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