Local Dad Launches Children’s Book Series Starring His Autistic Son

By Kami-Leigh Agard

In Rich Pontieri’s “Mikey and Busty: Best Friends Forever,” the first installation of a children’s book series about the adventures of an autistic boy, Mikey, and his dog, Busty—the Rockaway Beach dad puts forward that with positive friendships and support—“no matter the diagnoses, our special kids could accomplish anything they want to do in life.”

According to Pontieri, with this book and other forthcoming books in the series—he hopes to combat bullying with love, family and friendship: “As a parent, by spreading the message of love and kindness, my goal is to show the world that nothing could hold our kids back. Our special needs children can accomplish anything they want and persevere in this big world of ours on their own terms.” Also, what’s even more special, the book series’ illustrator, Madeline Noone, is a local teen on the autism spectrum, who brings the adventures of “Mikey and Busty” to life.

Pontieri is a proud father of two daughters: Tessa, age 20 and Mackenzie, 27, and his book series’ namesake, autistic son, Mikey, who just celebrated his 14th birthday last month. Pontieri worked in construction for over 16 years, became a stay-at-home dad to keep the household fort down with his wife, Sarah, and is now a top-reviewed published children’s book author through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which includes eBooks and print. His first book, “Has Anyone Seen My Friend?” released last August, humorously narrates how Pete the sock loses his mate in the laundry and goes on an adventure to find his sock mate. As one reviewer stated on Amazon: “This heartwarming and beautifully written story captures the essence of friendship in the most touching way. The characters are relatable, and their journey together is filled with moments that will make you laugh, cry, and reflect on the importance of companionship.”

“Mikey and Busty: Best Friends Forever” kicks off with the Smith family bringing newborn Mikey home and introducing him to Buster, a “Morkie” (Yorkshire Terrier/Maltese mix dog). From day one, Mikey and Busty share many adventures. Though Mikey’s speech is a bit delayed, he and Busty bond around games like “Ketchup” (catch-up) around the neighborhood and beach, plus, Mikey was even able to bring his bestie, Busty, to “Show-And-Tell” at school.

Sadly, the Pontieri’s real-life Busty has since passed on, but dad was determined to keep memories of Mikey and Busty’s friendship alive with this book series.

As for what inspired him to start writing children’s books, Pontieri shared: “I was in construction for over 16 years. And because of my wife’s job, she travels a lot, so, I became a stay-at-home dad for the kids. It’s not that I wrote all the time, but I had ideas that I jotted down. Then about 10 years later, one day I was doing the laundry and everyone’s missing a sock. And I thought to myself, I’ll write a children’s book about a sock missing its mate in the wash, and he embarks on this adventure, searching throughout the whole house. It’s like a ‘Toy Story’ movie kind of book, where he talks to clothing or shoes to find out if they’ve seen the missing sock, and the book’s storyline evolves from there.

“Then I decided to write a book about Mikey and what he goes through in life. When he was younger, he was verbal to us indoors, but not outside. So, it was hard for him to make friends. His mom and I are his best friends, and we do everything together. He has friends at school, but he has us here. And with this book, I wanted to show what he goes through in life like other children with autism diagnoses. From there, I knew that for the book series, we needed to have an artist living in a similar world like Mikey’s.”

And he found the perfect illustrator. “I asked a friend of mine if she knew any special-needs artists, and she introduced me to Madeline. She’s from Rockaway Beach, attending a District 75 school for students with development delays, P177Q in Queens.

“Madeline’s mom shared how much Madeline loves being in her school plays and school’s rock band. Plus, she participates in Special Olympics and adores her cat, Blueberry. Madeline is an amazing artist, who brought the book to life. I showed her pictures of Mikey and Busty, and she did an amazing job, even catching how in every picture, Mikey always has his thumbs up. As the book series evolves, it’s going to be an amazing journey with Madeline,” Pontieri said.

The upcoming installments of the “Mikey and Busty” adventures include Mikey and Busty visiting the zoo, a carnival and more.

As for future plans and what he hopes to accomplish with his books, Pontieri shared that he has already obtained his school vendor’s license and aims to visit schools not just throughout Rockaway, but statewide and even nationwide.

“With the ‘sock’ book and the ‘Mikey and Busty’ series, I want to read them to children at schools. Also, for teachers to guide the students in reading so they feel proud and accomplished about themselves. Then, I’m going to bring in sock puppets acting out the stories. Also, who knows, even a socks apparel company can sponsor a contest where the students actually design their own socks. Also, school bullying is such a devastating problem for our kids, and I’d love to do something for Anti-Bullying Week next February,” he said.

Pontieri also said he wants to keep paying it forward to organizations advocating for children like his son. “I said to my wife that I want to give a dollar from each ‘Mikey and Busty’ book sale to an autism organization. Once she told me about Rockaway Beach Autism Families, I immediately joined, and want to support. It’s important to support our special needs community at home,” he said.

As for Mikey, Pontieri shared that he’s so proud of his son. He said, “I remember when Mikey couldn’t speak at all. And now he has persevered with his schooling, attending Tiegerman Middle School (a K-12 private school for students with developmental disabilities), and come into his own as a teenager. He’s not that little shy boy anymore. He’s enjoying life in his own way, and we love going on the ride with him; knowing how it started in the beginning. He has flourished so much, and the ‘Mikey and Busty’ book series illustrates his journey.”

Be the first to purchase “Mikey and Busty: Best Friends Forever” on Amazon in the next few days. For updates, visit: Rockaway Beach Autism Families on Facebook. In the interim, check out Rich Pontieri’s other children’s book: “Has Anyone Seen My Friend?” on Amazon.