The Gulps Dear Friends, Once in a blue moon a children's book comes along that breaks new ground. The Gulps is just such a book and we are both very excited to have worked on it. Each of us has a little gray in our hair. That means we remember a different time growing up in America, when kids got loads of exercise naturally. We went outdoors to play every free minute of the day. Families sat down together every morning and night to home-cooked meals. People with backyards had vegetable gardens and used them. Families did work outdoors and walked places instead of driving there. But the prosperity of our country has given us a couch-potato lifestyle, supported by the attraction and ease of unhealthy fast food. As a result, childhood obesity has become a national epidemic and a national disgrace. One in three American kids is overweight, and that is a very frightening statistic to us. A book can't change everything, but it might be able to sew a few healthy seeds. We made it funny and we think it might inspire a lot of kids and their folks to start taking better care of themselves just like the Gulps! We hope so, anyway!   Rosemary and Marc Rosemary Wells and Marc Brown