From Charleston to Pluto

When West Ashley resident Jonathan Miller graduated from the College of Charleston in 1998 with a business degree, he had no idea that the business he’d be managing would depend on his hidden talent as a paper cut artist.
Today, Miller is known as the talented and hard-working author of The Adventures of Sammy the Wonder Dachshund series. Launched in 2008 with Sammy’s Last Week in Charleston, the Wonder Dachshund series has taken Sammy from his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, to the heart of Africa and, in his latest installment, to the freezing depths of space in search of the dwarf planet, Pluto.
“Charleston was a lot different when I wrote the first book. At the time I was thinking about going to law school, but all I could think of was how much I would miss Charleston. I wrote the book and basically put Sammy in my place. It was a jumping off point for the series,” says Miller.
A modern day Mr. Peabody, Sammy works as a fact checker for the internet, digging for the truth in erroneous online myths. In Sammy in Space, Sammy is sent to discover whether or not the rumors are true that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
“When I wrote my first book there was a lot of debate online about whether or not Pluto should be classified as a planet and it sounded like the perfect assignment for Sammy,” says Miller.
With the overarching theme of working hard to achieve your dreams, Sammy finds out that before he can rocket off to deep space, he first needs to go through astronaut training camp. After many hard weeks of training and learning how to fly a plane, operate a parachute, and build a shelter, Sammy is set for his mission to the stars.
“Once he reaches space, Sammy shares a fact or two about each planet as he passes them, so kids not only get to learn about what astronauts have to go through during training, they also get to learn about the planets of the solar system,” says Miller.
While Miller often tells his young audience that he wanted to be an astronaut as a child, he ultimately decided against it as he “just wasn’t that good at math.”
What Miller is good at, apart from his art and telling an engaging and well-researched story, is relating to his readership. During the school year, Miller visits more than 130 schools in South Carolina and across the southeast. In fact, his current tour has him visiting 31 schools in just 20 days.
“For me, it’s a blast. After a long summer, by August first I’m really looking forward to getting back out to the schools,” says Miller.
During his visits, Miller shows children the step by step process of creating his original artwork and explains how he became an author.
“Most children are amazed at how long it takes me to create a picture,” says Miller.
Since each image is made up of hundreds of intricately cut sheets of stock and construction paper, creating just one page of the Sammy series can take Miller up to 30 hours to complete.
Miller then reads one of the stories to his eager audience and wraps up his visit with a question and answer session.
“I get a lot of questions about the bookmaking process and how long it takes me to write each story. I also made sure I learned a lot about each of the planets for this tour because I know the kids are going to ask me about them. I have to be ready,” says Miller, smiling.
Miller has been to just about every school in the Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley county area, some more than once, and he’s excited to revisit many of them with his latest book.
“It’s definitely been a learning experience, but I’ve been able to sell a good number of books and I’m now able to do this full time. I’m glad it’s worked out this way,” says Miller.
For more information about The Adventures of Sammy the Wonder Dachshund series and to request Miller visit your school, visit www.sammydogbooks.com. Copies of The Adventures of Sammy the Wonder Dachshund series are available online at www.sammydogbooks.com and locally at Wonder Works, Blue Bicycle Books, Sugar Snap Pea, Barton’s, and the Historic Charleston Foundation.