Delaware woman helps late daughter finish children's book inspired by rescue dog

A local mother picked up the passion project her daughter couldn’t finish after she died in a highway accident 15 months ago.

Cheese Tales is a story of the rescue dog named Cheese that was written by his human mom Tess Fox which is human grandmom, Judi Fox, got illustrated and published.

Tess Fox was a 2010 graduate of Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, but in September of 2024, she died after an accident in Philadelphia.

Tess had already written “Cheese Tales: Cheese and the Big Sneeze” and sent it to a publisher who had accepted it.

Then, after her death, Tess’ mom Judi worked with the publisher to find the perfect illustrator.

“It keeps her memory and her life alive. And through that it gives us comfort to know she has not been forgotten. It has been fifteen months since she passed away and she still lives everyday in that book, and children love it,” Judi told NBC10.

Tess’ husband takes good care of the real-life Cheese and now Judi is working on writing two more books that will become part of the Cheese story collection.

Judi plans to name a character after Tess with the proceeds of the books going to various charities.

For Tess’ best friend, Christina Merklinger, she says this is the best souvenir she could have of her friend.

“It has been devastating, Tess was the light of so many lives,” Christina said. “Reading the pages, it’s like she is reading them to you and it is just an amazing feeling that she is sharing her gift with the world.”

You can buy “Cheese Tales” now on Mascot Books’ website and it will soon be available to buy on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.