If you’ve met Bennett Bengal, the cute tiger cub of Jungleville who was born without feet, you have also peered into the life of Ben Herosian, the author of the illustrated children’s book series Jungleville Tails: The Adventures of Bennett Bengal.  

Ben’s words and Melanie Ford Wilson’s vibrant color illustrations capture Bennett Bengal in his early years struggling to fit in, going to his prosthetist for the first time, and practicing new movements with his prosthetic feet.

For these experiences, Ben draws heavily on his own experience of living with several physical differences. From these experiences, he arrives at universal themes and offers lessons for children and their parents about familial love, perseverance in the face of limitations, accomplishing goals, and having a good attitude about life.

Overall, the series is meant to provide a fun and meaningful way for children to learn about their or another’s physical differences, whether due to illness, trauma, birth defect, or any other reason.

Just like anyone else, Ben has experienced pain and joy in his 29 years. Unlike others, however, Ben also lives with Moebius syndrome, a very rare congenital condition that affects many parts of his body and his life. It is so rare, in fact, that people affected by it often lack the support they need from social and medical communities. Like Bennett Bengal, Ben was born with no feet and wears prostheses. In addition, he was born without a left hand and with impaired vision, missing nerves in his face, and a shortened tongue – all symptoms of his disorder.

With surgeries, specialized eye wear, eye patches, prostheses, and speech therapy, Ben was able to overcome some of his physical challenges to participate in regular activities, such as walking, eating and talking, that most people take for granted. Unfortunately, due to undeveloped cranial nerves, Ben will never be able to smile or frown.

Though overcoming so many physical challenges would be enough for some people, Ben’s “can do” attitude led him to seek the thrill and challenge of attending Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, far from his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

With the support of his family and community, Ben grew up with self-confidence and was treated with respect; in fact, it wasn’t until he was in his early 20s and newly graduated from college that he discovered the crueler side of living in a society where differences are not always accepted.

When Ben graduated with a degree in journalism after hard work that earned him honors, he wasn’t prepared for the harsh reality that people would not hire him because of their own prejudices. As the child of successful parents who were encouraging and helpful through every phase of his life, Ben had always known fairness and love, which made this time after college even harder for him to understand.

“I had to realize that just because someone is in a position of power and is successful does not mean they are intelligent, open-minded or fair,” Ben explains.

During job interviews, potential employers mistakenly assumed that Ben’s speech difference reflected intellectual inferiority. In addition, they were uncomfortable because of his lack of control over his facial muscles.

While many people with disabilities, including amputees, experience discrimination and prejudice in the workforce, Ben was unable to find even one employer who was willing to give him a chance.

It’s at this point that many people would feel defeated and simply give up, but this hardship provided the catalyst both in terms of necessity and inspiration for Ben to begin to follow his dream of pursuing a writing career seriously.

Ben knows that it is a long, hard process for any author to find financial success, and, now that he is married, he has a greater need to find steady or contract work that he can do while he writes. Nonetheless, having writing projects that can turn into published pieces fulfills a deeper ambition for him.

“Since I was about 6 years old, I had dreamed of being a writer,” Ben says. “As I grew older, some other dreams came and went; such as becoming a professional wrestler, but being a writer was always something I hoped to accomplish as an adult.”

Ironically, it was from the pain he experienced as an adult (from other adults) that inspired him to write for children. An avid reader from an early age — he currently reads two to three books a week — Ben wanted to reach kids before they became adults and lost their open-mindedness.

Ben hopes that his books can serve as a teaching tool for children of all physical abilities and help nurture the qualities of fair-mindedness and big-heartedness that he has been so touched by in his life.

The Jungleville Tails are published by Lilyfield and Company and are available at www.lilyfieldandcompany.com or by calling toll-free 866/832-0884. A portion of each sale is being donated to the Rehabilitation Centre for Children in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Beginnings and New Equipment are the first two books available of the planned 10-12 book set.