CLIFTON — A Clifton children’s author used the likeness of her “heroic” father to encourage children to stay safe in her new picture book by Maggie Katz.

Donna Fantacone penned a “serious” children’s book about how to stay safe at home and in the community. “Officer Tony Says, ‘Be Careful'” is the first in a series of stories to help broach conversations about safety with children.

Fantacone said she recognized a need for more education on children’s safety when she was raising her son. She said information she thought was common knowledge surprised other parents.

Pool safety, including identifying and avoiding pool drains, is among the most overlooked, said Fantacone, who previously worked as a lifeguard.

“You take your rules with you when you go” was one of Fantacone’s staple advice to her son, she said.

The safety advocate brought knowledge from her 20 years of experience as a corporate safety officer and numerous Red Cross certifications to deliver the safety advice. She holds multiple CPR and first aid certifications and is currently a volunteer teacher of children through City Green in her capacity as a Rutgers Certified Master Gardener.

Fantacone also has another special credential: she is the daughter of a retired police officer.

She chose to tell the story through the familiar face of her father, Anthony Fantacone, referred to in the book as Officer Tony. The elder Fantacone served as patrolman and detective with the Belleville Police Department for 30 years. During his tenure, he also served as his Police Benevolent Association’s president and was awarded Citizen of the Year for his rescue of 12 people from a Belleville apartment fire in the 1960s.

“The story goes he came out with one baby under each arm,” said his daughter, referencing the first two lives he saved that day. The elder Fantacone passed by the burning building while on patrol and called for the fire department. However, when he heard screams inside, he was compelled to enter, said his daughter.

It wouldn’t be the last time her father risked life and limb in going above the call of duty. Fantacone said her childhood was peppered with moments when her father went out of the way to help someone else.

“My father would side track everything to pull over for an accident.” Even a family vacation.

On the way down the shore one summer, Fantacone’s family pulled over after her father saw a car tumble into a ravine off the Garden State Parkway. Smoke began to billow from the crashed car as her father ran to pull the woman from the wreckage.

Assisting during accidents was also her father’s way while off duty at home in Belleville, from fires and deadly crashes, to fender-benders. Fantacone moved to Clifton nearly 30 years ago, just before she married.

In addition to dedicating the book to her father, many of the lessons inside her picture book also hearken back to very personal moments, said Fantacone.

The image of a large white van stretched across the book’s pages reminded her of a time when a suspicious vehicle approached her as a very young child on her own street. She said she ran home and told her father, but despite his efforts he could not locate the vehicle because in her panic, Fantacone couldn’t remember any details about the vehicle.

“I learned at a very young age that the license plate is very important,” she said to students at School 3 during her visit to the school.

In her book, she encourages children to run away and make noise when a suspicious vehicle approaches. If possible, take a photo or memorize at least a part of the license plate and tell a parent or police immediately.

Fantacone has visited schools in Clifton and Paterson to read her book as well as spoken before the Ocean Affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (OAEYC). She also held a book signing at Clifton Public Library in April.

Another page of the book with a personal connection is the image of a car crash; her husband as a child was struck and badly injured by a drunk driver.

Now, she said “distracted” driving, most famously due to cell phones, has become just as dangerous as drunk driving. Her picture book includes a cautionary note about being alert while walking on the sidewalk.

Fantacone said her father, a 95-year-old World War II navy veteran, is well aware of the book bearing his likeness which has even brought a tear to his eye.

Her parents, who will celebrate 74 years of marriage this year, are pictured together with her father in uniform her and mother Pascqualina, holding a loaf of bread in a restaurant bearing her name. Fantacone’s mother continues to be an avid baker, she said, though she did not own a restaurant.

Her parents aren’t the only family she’s included in her book. She also asked her illustrator, muralist Francesca Leipzig Picone, to include her son, Raymond Romanski and her niece.

Fantacone said she met her eventual illustrator through the work of her father, photo-realistic painter Mel Leipzig. She was first introduced to his work through Leipzig’s soon-to-be son-in-law and Fantacone’s co-worker, who had brought in some of the paintings for display.

The book waited five years to be accepted by a publisher, but the dream of writing has belonged to Fantacone for 20 years, she said. Her next title, which is currently in production will continue the Officer Tony theme but will be “not as serious,” she said.

“Officer Tony Says, ‘Be Careful'” is available from Amazon, Archway Publishing and Barnes & Noble. Copies are also available to borrow from Clifton Public Library.

Fantacone encourages others to sign up for Consumer Product Safety Commission alerts for product recalls and other safety information at cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/Subscribe.

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