Dr. Qooz Author Interview

Who Are You? follows Gerri as he handles the ups and downs of his first day of school. Why was this an important book for you to write?

Who Are You was written from a personal experience watching the chaos on day one of the 1st grade. The second most traumatic event in a child’s life is the first time the child is left alone without Mom or Dad. The most traumatic is birth. My parents gave me an insight to the first time alone and promised to come back and pick me up after work. What a life raft the information was to me. The disastrous events of the children not knowing what was happening was a vivid picture I still see today, 63 years later. I was motivated to share the “night before preview for new parents, hoping to diminish the trauma of the child’s 1st time alone.

The book explores difficult topics like bullying and teasing in school. What do you hope readers take away from this book?

My hopes are that new parents will prepare their child with a comforting story that previews the morrow, identifies differences in classmates, delivers a path to new friendships and assures the child that mom and dad will be there to pick them up after school. Teasing and bullying is everywhere. I hope to enlighten the child and parent that their classmates may be acting this way because they are uncomfortable too.

The art in this book is bright, cute and high quality. What was the art collaboration like on this project?

The art collaboration in this book started with my drawing of Gerrie the awkward, out of place feeling giraffe on the cover. My two daughters did a page each, ‘animals with long legs’ and the ‘animals all hugged’ up toward the end, then I employed an artist to fill in the other drawings.

This is book one in your Fargone series. What can readers expect in book two, Sight to See?

Book two of the Fargone series addresses the handicap that one out of 5 children have, a learning disability or behavioral problem because they cannot see. Tode’s classmate’s dad is an Optometrist and suggests a trip to have Tode’s eyes examined. The child is entertained and the parents are reminded to have their child’s eyes checked NOW. This book was also a number one best seller on Amazon.

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Who Are You, is a children’s book for young children ages 2-6. This kid’s book is an introductory story of Gerri, from Fargone. Gerri’s first day of school, alone, portrays a child that is unsure and awkwardly thrust into a crowd that he doesn’t know and how Gerri navigates through this environment of teasing, bullying and finally acceptance. This children’s picture book features vibrant colorful jungle animals that jump right off the page with dialog for a growing child.