The Prime Poppies

## The Prime Poppies

### **Followed by**

*Journey to Planet 12*

*"This is just the start, isn't it?"
"Not just for you. Many special people want to use their powers to save people. Evil has taken many forms. The evil plant. The Dark Priest. The Legions of Metta. The followers of the Umbralord. And the worst of them all, the NoHeads. If you accept, you are becoming part of something more unsafe, more overwhelming, more awesome, and more mighty than you can possibly see in your head."*
―Wayne and Lewis**[src]**
***The Prime Poppies*** was a 2006 picture book. It is the first installment of the D.I.T. Literary Universe and the first installment of Part One: Prelude to Peace. It was written by D. Isaac Thomas and released to positive reviews.

## Summary

A man named Wayne is just struggling to survive life as an employee, but a puppet steals his most prized possession. When he is caught, the two must team up to begin combating crime and more sinister forces at play.

## Plot

As Wayne calls his friends for a snowball fight, he brings a prized possession, an artificial Hot Dog he believes can be used to win. Ms. Malone and her dog Beemer decide to build snow sculpts before going to help an unusually needy circus. A marionette named Richard steals Wayne's Hot Dog, prompting Wayne to pursue, but when he catches him, Richard returns the Hot Dog with his apologies and pleas for empathy. However, Wayne is then captured by an evil plant named Potty and his apologetic teenage sidekick Pete and Richard runs to find and warn Wayne's friends, arriving in Wayne's cell and offering to join him in beginning to combat bullying and prejudice. Wayne is skeptical, wondering what two kids can do. As his friends' rescue commences, several glass chambers transport characters but they go out of control, giving Wayne the time he needs to stand up to Potty. Beemer gets everyone out and Wayne meets up with them, explaining that he and Potty have made their peace. He and Richard realize that to stop bullies on a wide scale, they have to mature first, and dedicate their lives to their isolated community first and foremost. During a Postscript scene, Police Grand Army Directive Lewis warns the duo just how much they plan on biting off and briefly speaks of the universe laying ahead of them.

## Themes

The picture book's primary takeaway is that there are plenty of people who want to change the world for the better, but people have to grow up first; in short, to get somewhere, everyone has to start somewhere. To build up others, one must build oneself up also. So it is the idea of using what one has and doing what one can.

## Reception

The book received tons of positive reviews, with readers saying that the book "The Prime Poppies isn't the most consistent childrens' book but its brisk pace, fresh characters and big laughs make for a great time for the whole family." Many of them had previously predicted it would be "poorly written kindergarten folly". It went on to become a huge success. Melissa Vaine noted that out of the 21 known people who have read *The Prime Poppies*, 19 reported having a good time, herself included. However, the book performed poorly compared to the other books of Part One: Prelude to Peace. Despite that, it became an instant classic due to positive reception, as mentioned earlier.

## Behind the scenes

D. Isaac Thomas wrote this book as a kindergartener in 2006. The book is illustrated entirely with photos taken from Thomas' cell phone several years later. Ms. Malone was inspired by Thomas' kindergarten teacher who had the same surname, who lived in Germany and was teaching in 2006, the year of the book's release. Beemer, her dog, is also based off the out-of-universe Malone's own pet dog, of whom she occasionally brought to class as he was liked by the students. Although Ms. Malone's age is placed firmly at twenty-seven, which means she would have been born in 1979, that many years before 2006, she is in all respects portrayed as an old lady and an elderly character. This is actually a running gag: Thomas, as a socially naive kindergartener, asked the out-of-universe Malone her age, something elderly people, especially females, typically are reluctant to answer to anyone. She joked that she was twenty-seven when she was clearly at least in her sixties placing the out-of-universe Malone's birth at 1947 in the very latest. Thomas was too young to realize she was joking and naively believed her, genuinely believing he was making her the same age as himself. When he discovered the truth, he still put the DLU Malone's age in as twenty-seven because he thought it was too hilarious to change.

## Trivia

D. Isaac Thomas initially intended to name this book *The Prime Poopies*. However, he decided that was "disgusting" so he changed it quickly.

## References

Template:D.I.T. Literary Universe
Template:Prelude to Peace