Children's Book Review: The Stapler Caper

Lillie Forteau's picture

I'd like to share with you today a very fun kids book, called the Stapler Caper. Created by Cindy Ray, this book is a treasure. It is so funny! I like Stapler Caper because it is a cool book! You get to write your own words - YOU are the author! I love it - how she drew the pictures made me laugh. Sometimes their expressions make you change your story. So always use a pencil, with a good eraser on it. You can learn how to come up with a story line and make it funny (or sad). You could even write the whole book as a musical - we did that for one of our versions of Stapler Caper. You should hear the verse for when they turn into #2 Pencil Superheroes! WOW!

 

 

We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with Cindy Ray, about her background, the book, laughing, and more. Here's what she had to say...

 

 

WE: Please tell us about The Stapler Caper...

CR: Bridging education and entertainment, The Stapler Caper is a hardcover keepsake book which allows the child to be the author. The pages are full of engaging, colorful illustrations, but no words. Children use their imagination to create a story as unique as the child who is writing in the book.

I developed the idea for The Stapler Caper while on vacation with my son and husband. I had that "AHA" moment in an old-fashioned bookstore while encouraging my son to find a chapter book to read. Ryan, who was eight years old at the time, came to me with a wordless book that had bright and vibrant illustrations. I made a deal with my son to buy the book under the condition that he would write one sentence per page about what he imagined was going on in the pictures.

I couldn't imagine he would agree and I couldn't believe I was going to encourage him to write on the pages of a quality hardcover book. But the moment we returned to the hotel room, he was fast at work, and I knew I had stumbled on to something big.

The most important aspect of this book was making sure it was fun and children would enjoy writing and expressing themselves. I created this book to encourage my son to find writing enjoyable.

 

 

WE: How can readers participate in the story?

CR: We give them a cast of characters to work with named The Do-Writes! The child uses their imagination to create a story with words using the illustrations as visual cues. The book was designed with thick sturdy pages so that the child can write their story, erase, and then write a brand new story. There are a lot of details drawn onto each page, so every time you pick up the book you are likely to see something new. You can put this book on the shelf for 6 months, take it down again and write a brand new story OR add to the one you already have. This book is unique in that it grows with the child, keeping up with their young, curious, creative minds.

 

 

WE: When the characters change into superheroes, how do they form? Why are they different? Why do they change in the toilet?

CR: They change shape in the bathroom because I thought it would make children laugh and I wanted a book with a lot of humor. We thought no one would see them transform in the bathroom so they could keep their identity a secret. Ryan and Bea are transformed upside down so they could use their erasers to bounce and fly through their school, Write Brothers Elementary, to help catch the bad guys.

 

 

WE: Was it fun to make this book?

CR: It was such a joyful process!! I remember laughing and having fun creating the story line. I had a lot of help from a great team of people. Friends and family gave us ideas that ended up in the book.

I hope all children will have as much fun writing their stories as I had creating the book.

 

 

WE: How did you illustrate this book? Where did you get your ideas?

CR: I had the great pleasure of working with an amazingly talented illustrator, Bill Young, who took our vision and brought it to life. It was great fun working with him to decide what each character would look like. He brought so much excitement to the book and we are very grateful to him for his talent and designs. I also worked with a very funny copy writer, Amy Hite, who helped us create the names of the characters and worked with us on their biographies in the front of the book.

When my son started going to school, I missed him during the day, and I started thinking about where he was spending most of his time. He loved super heroes and school, so I combined both his passions together to create The Do-Writes! I wanted to create a book that children could relate too and have a lot of fun using to write down their ideas and thoughts. I know as a child I loved to play with pencils, scissors, staplers, rulers, etc. and pretend I was the teacher at school. Most children I know like to do that too!!

 

 

WE: Why are a stapler and a ruler the bad guys? Why does the mop go crazy?

CR: We wanted good-for-nothing bad guys that were not too scary. Once we had the main characters and heroes as pencils, the stapler and ruler became the trouble makers. They wanted to be in charge of pencil world, but didn't have the smarts to figure it out. I had so much fun working with school supplies and bringing them to life!

As far as the mop goes, that's for the boys and girls to decide. I have a story of the book in my head, but the fun of working with this book, is each child decides what is happening for themselves. In my story the mop is alerting them to trouble in the school, it's an "alarm" to get Ryan and Bea's attention. Sort of like the bat signal in the sky for batman to let him know they need his help.

 

 

WE: Is there another book in this series?

CR: Not yet, but we're excited to get this book off the ground so we can create a series of books. We already have other characters to add to The Do-Writes! family. We'd like to introduce some new and exciting ideas in the next book.

 

 

WE: How can kids learn from this book?

CR: We suggest that preschool children beginning at age 3 start using this book as a board book. Their parents or teachers can point out colors, shapes, numbers, etc. As the child grows, the adults can journal, write down what the child is saying, to introduce punctuation, words and grammar to the child.

When a child reaches elementary school the book can be a great guide for creative writing. The child can write one sentence per page or a whole paragraph. It's up to them. When I brought The Stapler Caper home for the first time after the book was printed, my son and I wrote one page a night in the book. By the third night, he was getting me to come sit down with him to write in the book.

 

 

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

CR: I think children are AMAZING and that we need to tap into their creativity at a young age. We tell our children the value of exercising the muscles in their body. I believe that our creativity and our imagination are like muscles, the more they are used and stretched, the stronger they become.

Thank you so much for featuring our book on your wonderful website!!  We'd love for you to check out our website at www.thestaplercaper.com where you can purchase the book with complimentary pencil. Please check out our "book is in the news" tab to see what people are saying about this exciting new product.

 

Stapler Caper

 

 

WE: Cindy Ray's background is quite interesting...

"Not in a million years" would Cindy Ray have imagined that she would
become the author of a children's book. Even as someone who had always
treasured reading, she could never have imagined how a family trip into
a San Francisco book store would forever alter the course of her
professional life.

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and a graduate of Hillcrest High
School, Ray was raised in a family that valued family, education, and
philanthropy.

Not certain of any particular career path, she opted to attend the
University of Texas at Austin to see where that might lead. Within a
year, she returned to Dallas to care for her mother, Helene, when she
became ill with cancer. Following her mother's recovery, she returned
to UT, but found that her heart was calling her back home to Dallas.
Her father, Sylvan, an accomplished optical manufacturer, had always
encouraged Cindy to utilize her dynamic and outgoing personality in
both social and business settings.  "I adored my dad. He was the
pinnacle of everything I honor and respect in life. He gave more than a
100 percent all the time while trying to benefit others," says Cindy.

She quickly found herself working in specialty retail stores and in
hotel and restaurant catering, which included event planning. Cindy's
unique sense of style combined with her uncanny ability to 'read' her
clients' needs led her to build her own event planning business,
InspiRAYtions, in 1986. Cindy found herself working constantly,
planning a wide array of personal and corporate events. Her passion to
create the most memorable events on any budget quickly earned her the
respect of the industry and a bevy of clients in need of her expertise.

Eight years later, to escape the 100-hour work week and to "get a
life," she became catering manager at the Westin Hotel. While there,
she met her husband, Bruce Yablonsky, and they married in 1995. In
1998, their son, Ryan, was born.

Determined to again be the master of her own ship, Cindy started yet
another event planning business, C Ray & Associates, this time
focused on the magnitude of the project rather than multitude. Her
"lifestyles of the rich and famous" parties became the "hottest tickets
in town," and she continues to enjoy tremendous success more than a
decade later. In 2007, while on a family vacation in San Francisco, she
ventured into a favorite specialty book store with Ryan, who was
8-years-old at the time.

She'd raised Ryan to share her passion for reading and never denied him
any book he'd select, but when he asked her to buy him a wordless book,
she hesitated. He persisted, showing her the bright, vibrant
illustrations that made him laugh and inspired him to tell her his
version of the story. She conceded that she'd buy this wordless book
for him under the condition he would write at least one sentence per
page. To her shock, he agreed. Later, in their hotel room, Cindy
watched in amazement as her son, who'd always resisted writing, spent
the better part of an hour writing in this book!

An epiphany! Her two passions would come together: Entertainment and Education.

Within a month, in 2007, Cindy founded Kids Write On, LLC, and eagerly
began working on creating a captivating hardcover book that would
inspire children to use their imagination. This was a labor of love,
and quite literally, nine months after the project began, Cindy
published The Stapler Caper, an engaging tale of clever cartoon
characters borne out of the shape of pencils and aptly named, The Do
Writes. Set at Write Bros. Elementary, the characters spell out a tale
of good vs. 'good-for-nothing,' as the Sinister Stapler and the Evil
Ruler attempt to take over the library. But, wait! Students-turned
superheroes, Ryan E. Racer and Bea Sharp are on the case.

With Cindy's background in event planning and with perfection as her
goal, no detail was left undone. Each page was poured over, each
character was designed and redesigned, even the paper itself was
researched to assure that it could withstand the test of time (and
eraser!). "I am dedicated to helping children explore their
imaginations while fostering a love of learning," said Ray. "Ryan inspired me to make writing fun while encouraging his individual expression."

 

 

WE: Thanks so very much, Cindy! We LOVE your book - I can't put it down. We highly recommend it to our readers (and their kids!).

For more information, please see: http://www.thestaplercaper.com

The Stapler Caper
Copyright Kids Write On
Published by Taylor Publishing

 

L Forteau (7) is the Special Children's Reporter for Wandering Educators

Comments (1)

  • Dr. Jessie Voigts

    14 years 7 months ago

    l - i know you LOVE this book so much - it makes us laugh! you did a great job interviewing cindy - your questions were fun!

     

    Jessie Voigts, PhD

    Publisher, wanderingeducators.com

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