WillieBoy And Steve's Culinary Adventure

Bruce Von Stiers

I first remember seeing Steve Schirripa as Bobby ‘Bacala”, the likeable soldier in the Soprano crime family on The Sopranos. Later he played the likable but stubborn investigator, Anthony Abetemarco, on Blue Bloods. And Steve was thoroughly enjoyable as a supposed mob boss in a Freshpet dog food commercial.

Steve is the author of several books, including The Goomba Diet: Living Large and Loving It and Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look.

Steve is also the proud owner of a dog. And not just any dog. He is a Dachshund named WillieBoy.

Steve loves to eat. And so does WillieBoy. Steve has written a children's picture book that features food and WillieBoy. The title of the book is WillieBoy Eats The World.

Steve wrote this book with the help of Philip Lerman, who is a journalist and television producer. This is the third book that Steve has worked on with Philip. As this is a picture book, there was an illustrator. The illustrations were done by Kirk Parrish, who has seen his work featured in numerous video games, in books and in advertisements.

The book starts out with WillieBoy extolling on how he and Steve both love to eat. But it seems like Steve will only eat Italian food such as cheesy lasagna, pesto spaghetti and cannoli.

But on a visit to a new dog park in the neighborhood, WillieBoy meets some canines whose heritage covers the entire planet. Conversing with them, WillieBoy learns there are far more foods to eat than just Italian. So he slowly entices Steve to sample some of the food from other cultures and countries. WillieBoy lets Steve know that he'll be embarking on a “great big fabulous dining adventure.”

On this culinary adventure, they eat Moo Shu pork, one enchilada, sushi, hot collard greens, couscous, chakalaka and red lentil stew.

Most of the book is written in rhyming prose.

WillieBoy Eats The World is an absolute delight. Not only is it a way to show children how to try new things, but the book also exposes them to all kinds of different types of food. And what's not to like about an adventurous Dachshund and his big buddy Steve.

WillieBoy Eats The World was published by Akashic Books. It is available through Amazon and other book retailers. You can also get a copy through the Akashic Books website at https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/willieboy-eats-the-world/ . There is also a Limited Edition package available with a signed copy of the book, a pawtographed print of Steve and WillieBoy and full-color sticker sheet.

And for those of you who might want to learn more about WillieBoy, he has an Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/willietheweenieofwallstreet/

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© 2026 Bruce E Von Stiers