A Tall Tale: How the Ostriches Got Their Long Necks and Long Legs by Scott Sollers
Interview with the Author:
Tell us about your book, “A Tall
Tale: How the Ostriches Got Their Long Necks and Long Legs”.
This is a
story about two communities (tribes) that reside in Africa that live in two
valleys separated by a fairly low ridge. One valley, occupied by the HaveAlls
is rich, fertile, and abundant, while the other valley, occupied by the
HaveNots is barren, desert-like and fallow. To make matters worse, the HaveAlls
have pets called squatz, that look a bit like small porcupines, but are fun to
play with, do chores and just are fun to be around. The HaveNots look over the
ridge and envy the HaveAlls rich valley and fun pets. One day the HaveNots go
over the ridge and try to take their share of the squatz and when the alarm
sounds, the two tribes get into a tug of war with the pets and, never giving
up, stretch the squatz so their necks and legs get much longer and when they
finally give up, the squatz now have the height and shape of ostriches! The
elongated squatz can see over the natives and into the valley and decide they
have had enough of being pets, so they all run away to lead their own lives,
leaving the two tribes alone. That’s when the chief of the HaveAlls invited the
HaveNots to stay with them in the large fertile valley together and after that
they all got along together and played games and shared the chores.
What are you hoping children take
away from this story?
I am hoping
that this fable will show the value of teamwork and that two very different
communities can come together in harmony and peace and sharing.
How did you connect with the
illustrator? What led you to choose an illustrator over creating your own picturees?
My
publisher, Amplify Publishing, has a group of illustrators and they presented
me with a list of 25 with their styles. I picked five I thought would be good
and they each presented some illustrations about the story. I then picked two
and they provided more examples—the publisher and I picked one for that story. We
used another illustrator for the nest two books because the first was not
available, and he did an excellent job, but we are using the first illustrator
for the fourth book called “How Flowers Got Their Colors.”
Did you know how the story would go
before you started, or did you write as the story came to you?
I conceived
these stories as bedtime adventures for my youngest daughter, Stephanie, when
she was 6 or 7 years old as a way we could spend time together. During the day,
I would let my imagination go and I made 18 of these stories up over a year or
so to entertain her and present family values. Each story had a theme, a
conflict of some sort and a successful resolution that ended up presented a
life lesson of sort about teamwork, respect, and consideration.
Do you have any other book
recommendations for children who love your book?
I don’t have
a recollection of really reading children’s picture books as a child, as I
probably did, but as soon as I could actually read, I spent my summers as a
child reading many books such as the Horatio Hornblower series about naval
exploits, the Caine Mutiny trilogy and many of the Nancy Drew mystery series.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Not really,
this was an act out my need to spend quality time with my younger daughter. I
had a different experience with my four years older daughter with our Saturday
excursions.
What is the most rewarding aspect of
being a writer for you?
The obvious
joy and lessons learned by my young readers.
What is your favorite color and how
does it inspire your writing?
I love the
color blue, but my story about how flowers got their colors is a testament
about my love of the outdoors and nature.
What would your dream job be if you
were not an author?
When I was younger, I wanted to fly in space and hoped I would be trained as an astronaut. And, after graduate school my thesis was using infrared data from a NASA satellite to map the world to more clearly define the environment, I had hoped to be trained as an astronaut, but I found out I was a bit too tall for the space capsule, I had poor eyesight, and I was probably not smart enough to get NASA’s attention! On the other hand, that thesis proved very valuable because I had a low draft number during the Vietnam War, so I enlisted in ROTC during graduate school and when I was commissioned as an officer, I was assigned to the Corps of Engineers in Wash DC for three years to oversee research NASA was funding to analyze data NASA was collecting from a satellite that was launched the month I went active duty to map the world in the visible and infrared spectrums. A fabulous assignment!
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About the Author:
Having
worked as an investment banker in the municipal securities industry for
decades, Scott Sollers created this and other nighttime stories for his
daughter, Stephanie, when she was a youngster. Originally, he handwrote and
illustrated these stories and finally had the inspiration to get them
published. Scott still works, is an avid golfer, and leads a not-for-profit
organization that helps disadvantaged children. He currently resides in San
Mateo, California, with his cat, Charlie.
Keep in touch on social media:
Author website: www.scottsollersauthor.com
https://www.instagram.com/scottsollersauthor/
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