Hi, my name is Ann Gora, and I've written a book called I Am a Big Brother with a Superpower.

Fantastic.

Thanks, Anne, for appearing on the Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors Podcast.

Like Ann has mentioned, she's written a children's book.

I'm a Big Brother with a Superpower.

And I look forward to our conversation because I actually was a Big Brother at one time.

I still am.

I understand that rule.

Before we get into the details of your book, Ann, I want to share a little bit about you with our audience.

You've got such an interesting background, and I wanted to let the listening audience know that Ann is a pioneer in children's entertainment, and she was a popular children's TV host of Romper Room from 1959 into the late 60s, and her show helped lay the foundation for such shows as Mr. Rogers, Sesame street, and the Friendly Giant.

And I am at that age where I watched all those shows.

I'm familiar with them all.

Can you tell us a little bit about that background that you had in the children's entertainment business from the 50s to the 90s?

Tell us a little bit about that.

I got the job in 59, actually.

And television, children's stuff, television started in 52, and there were very few households that had a TV.

But by the time, I think it was only about 17%, 14 or 17% of the households by 59, when I got the job, there were about 80% of the households really mushroomed.

It's almost like AI is today.

Isn't that the truth?

Yeah.

So it mushroomed that way.

And I got the job mostly because I wanted my hair done.

My husband was just starting out in his own business, and we were counting our pennies.

We had two small children, and I went and visited a friend of mine who had two children.

So we had what they call now a play date for the children.

And they played.

And she said, and there's an announcement on the radio today that they're looking for someone to do wrong room, replace the teacher that they had.

And I said, I don't think so, because I'd never let my children watch this show.

I felt they should have been outside in the yard playing with friends.

And so I'd not seen the show, and this was Friday, and I thought about it on my way home from the play date, and I thought, actually, I. I think I will go for an interview.

It won't hurt.

Just go for an interview and I'll be able to have my hair done.

Nice.

Beyond that, so that's exactly what happened.

And I hadn't seen the show, but I got the job.

And that's story unto itself.

So it was fun.

And I did it not into the 90s, but by the late 1960s is when they could do a show, put it in a can and send it across the country.

Before that, they had romper rooms in each station.

And Romper Room was franchised and syndicated.

But in the late 60s, and this station came to me in 65 or 66 and said, we have to have Canadian content, but we're giving bompa room in the can.

Yeah.

And then so I created a show which I called over the Rainbow, which was a travel show for preschoolers.

And it was fun.

And I did that.

And then they just didn't have the same restrictions for Canadian content.

And so TVs didn't change.

But I had a good go at it.

Good for you.

Fantastic.

I said to my wife, I looked at your website and I noticed that jingle from romperoo.

I said to my wife, you have to watch this because she can remember the show.

So it'll be the jingle.

Always the music that catches your ear.

For sure.

Yeah.

Thank you for sharing that.

I'm curious now.

Our audience will know more as we get into this, but tell us what it means to you after such a long career in children's entertainment.

Tell us what it means to you to be a children.

Children's book author.

That was a wonderful journey.

As it happened.

Noreen here was very helpful in getting that done.

She encouraged me to do that.

And we got an artist.

It was exciting, but also it's a whole other industry, requires other things.

But I'm happy I did the book because I think it can be very useful to a family that has a child and brings another one home because they all had the same reaction.

Yes.

And as an older brother, I'm about two years older than my brother.

Yeah.

And it was interesting at the time, my mother had a sister and my aunt had her children.

Just a little after my mother, I had a cousin, and he was a little bit older than my brother, but he had a brother come right behind him, too.

So there was the four of us.

And so two older brothers, two younger brothers.

Interesting.

Tell us, why did you decide?

And I hope you don't mind me sharing, your age is at 91.

What made you decide to become a children's book author?

I just thought that there was a message.

Age had nothing to do with it.

And I just thought, this is something I know about.

And I think the empathy that could be given to the oldest one was.

You don't think of that.

You think it's wonderful.

You've got another child that love it.

It'll be so fantastic.

And the first thing they want to do is just get rid of it.

They said, hi.

Put it back where it came from.

Yeah.

It's a very interesting dynamic.

Tell us the inspiration behind your.

Your book.

How did you come up with this idea?

I just saw it around me.

I had two children and I had one that's older.

They're different sexes, but I was just aware of it.

And sometimes we don't read into the real feelings of the children and we don't take them into consideration.

Especially way back when.

Was your daughter or your son the oldest?

My son was the eldest.

My wife and I have two children and my daughter was the oldest.

And then my son came along.

He's over six feet.

My daughter's five nothing.

So it was an interesting dynamic watching her with him.

He was a pretty heavy baby and watching that dynamic.

Of course, yeah.

I mean, they're all different, but it's just.

I wrote it hopefully that there'd be more understanding and empathy and also give the older one the permission to have the feelings that they have.

Good for you.

And I noticed that you're still doing speaking events and are you also doing book readings with those speaking events?

I was doing something that I loved.

Just before COVID came.

I was volunteering at the YMCA and I was going there to read books.

I became the story lady.

Walk in, I'd be there and just do the story with them.

And I would tell the story and then show them it's a book.

And they realized they did envision the story in a different way, but, oh, it's the same.

So I had so much fun doing that.

And I loved it.

I did it for a few years.

Then Covid came, and now I don't go near a kindergarten.

That part is over.

Then I got into writing this book, and now I'm really enjoying my story that I do.

I'm part of people that do it.

Are you going to libraries or are you going out to bookstores to read?

I belong to a storytelling group from that.

I just did a program for the Calgary Lifelong Learners Association.

Oh, nice.

Some of them had watched my show, of course, and they wanted to know the history of TV and how I fit in.

And so I did that just recently.

And I belong to a storytelling group that we get together once a month.

And you can tell stories, but we also need listeners so you can come and just listen.

So it's a lot of fun.

And have you aspired any other people who are in your group to actually think about writing their own children's book?

I think some of them have and I know they don't try and get anyone.

You can't get people to do anything they don't want to do.

Oh, for sure, absolutely.

It gives a spark for any suggestions or talk or to listen or read it.

I would love to.

That's terrific.

Because, you know, it was my grandchildren that inspired me to create a children's book series and they are actually co authors in all of our stories and we've published two books already.

And our first book I co authored with my oldest granddaughter and our second book I co authored with my oldest granddaughter and my middle granddaughter.

I have five grandchildren and all of them have helped write stories.

So we have up to about 38 stories in our series, but we haven't published them all yet.

But we certainly have had fun doing that.

It's great.

Great.

Congratulations.

Whether it's you or me, you're never too old to take on a new skill.

No, I believe that it's just hard to do tango dancing if you can't find a partner.

That's true, but I'm hopeful.

I'm glad you are.

I'm curious, in your publishing approach, are you self published or independently published?

Self published.

So you used a third party to help you bring your book to market?

Yes, I did.

Yeah.

That's what you have to do.

Yes.

I don't not too interested in going through there's not another book in me yet.

Unless it's about tango dancing.

Okay, we'll see if I can find you a tango partner and send them down the highway.

Okay, great.

When you say self publish, what's the name of your publisher?

Get you visible.

They're local, out of Calgary.

Yeah.

And she's quite wonderful.

Terrific, terrific.

And did she help you find your illustrator?

Tell us a story about your illustrator and how you connected with them.

It was through the publisher and she got me connected with several and then she sent me the information about the one I chose.

And what I found attractive to it was that she's partially blunt and I saw her drawings were so bright and cheerful and wonderful, I thought that's what I want.

And I believe that the illustrations are just that.

There are lots of thoughts in them.

Incredible.

Very vibrant.

She's fantastic.

And it was wonderful Steve's work.

So you had written your book first and then you supplied her with the words and then she did some sample illustrations for you prior to you hiring her.

Yeah.

Okay, great.

Because of her illustrations, not because of.

Her handicap, my mother later in her life had to use an E reader.

And she was.

She always amazed us because she pretended to be a little bit blinder than she actually was.

It's true, because she used to say she could hear a bird and then she'd tell us what color it was and we'd think, okay, mom, you're maybe stretching this out a little for us.

So did you use the same illustrator to do the book cover design?

Yeah.

From there the publisher took your writing, took the illustrations, laid it out into a book format, came to you and showed you how the book laid out.

Yeah, and I helped lay it out too.

Age turning and WhatsApp.

Oh, neat.

And you've got in hardcover, soft cover and of course an ebook.

Yeah.

So I looked at your website.

I like to talk a little bit about your website.

I like.

I said, I like the one video there where there's a little clip of Romper Room.

So that was cool and brought back some memories.

I noticed the name of your website is Miss and Get response site.

It's a landing page, Rick, on a CRM system.

Okay.

Yeah.

Because I went there and I noticed that I just looked at what was in the URL.

URL.

Exactly.

So how did you come up with that name?

Was there a specific reason?

It's just the name of the CRM system.

Get response.

Okay.

Yeah.

I was trying to understand was there a connection or reading?

Because I was thinking, okay, what's the connection to the name and to the book?

And I was thinking that a superhero and getting response by getting out there and so had nothing to do with that at all?

No, it's just a landing page.

Okay, terrific.

Just so everyone understands when they go to your website why it is what it is.

And who did the design for you?

The illustrator.

Illustrator Karen.

Okay.

Written and illustrated by Karen Argue.

I want to just maybe take you back a bit.

When you first started writing your book, was there a specific person or event that motivated you to write this book?

Yes.

I have some great grandchildren.

And I was talking with the older one, the boy, and we were visiting facetime.

They live in another city.

And he said to me that he was really very hurt by his sister.

And I said, so what happened?

And he said, we were cholerae.

And I asked her to pounce me the red crayon, please.

And she looked at me and she just said, no.

And I thought that was such a simple thing.

And that's what they did.

The younger one likes to have the power or no.

She couldn't say no or whatever.

And that was the seed that started it because it was an ordinary coloring together, but because he felt so catholic about it, and she hasn't got a clue that anything's going on.

So that was the seed for the book.

And then it's very popular to be a superhero.

You got that seed.

How quickly did it take you to actually think, okay, I'm going to put this down into words?

I took a note of it.

And then I would ask him other questions as time went on to see how the two of them were getting on.

And I could see there was.

There's this going.

Yeah.

And so I just pursued it.

I would keep asking him.

And then I thought, we have to have some solution in the book.

You have to give them something to go on.

And I think that for children to learn to breathe when they're feeling anxious is such a gift to the child.

No question.

And for adults also.

Yeah, they're trying to, but they don't think of teaching it to somebody that they're young.

This same grandson is into gymnastics, and he was competing last fall or spring.

And he told me just the other night that I think about you all the time, because before I have to go into competition, I try and get there early.

I try and get there and sit down, and I do my.

Oh, that's terrific.

So does he know that he's the big brother with the superpower?

He doesn't really care.

They're very happy about the book, and they know that's the idea behind it.

If you're having anxiety, then just.

You can just do it.

You can lie down, you can sit down, and wherever you are, and you can make yourself feel better.

Doesn't depend on anyone else.

Absolutely.

Let's jump a little bit into your story.

Tell us a little bit about the.

Main character, this special kind of kid.

He's just aware he has ordinary feelings.

The main character is, I guess, based very much on what I perceive the relationship was with my great friends Angela.

Not in the same city, so we don't have as much interaction.

But when he shared that to me, that was meaningful.

And I do mention to my great granddaughter, too, how she.

That our minds really control our body.

And I noticed you introduced his cousin.

Yeah.

That's why the story really resonated with me, is because it was almost as if you had taken a peek into my life.

I thought oh, how did Anne do that?

And as the story unfolds, you've got the mom and dad and that relationship and then eventually comes the sister.

Talk to us a little bit about the drama without giving too much of the book away.

The drama.

And it just happens, just how it works.

The parents are so delighted having another healthy baby and they include the other child.

I think by saying, oh, here's a gift from your new sister.

And in a way, oblivious to the fact that the older child is feeling neglected or.

Exactly.

You can discuss the theme a little bit deeper.

Talk to the audience about your theme.

There's a very happy couple having their first baby and their world is changing and they're excited about this new baby is now walking and talking and now they're going to have another sibling for this baby.

And so the world is wonderful.

It's wonderful because it can't.

Then the new baby comes and you'll let the baby feel the kicking on the stomach and they include the baby.

But it still, it doesn't work because all the attention goes to the baby.

And so that's a pressure and it's hard feelings.

It hurts.

And so I'm really pleased, I think I did it in the book, that he realizes that she's out going away and he can't tell the garbage collector to take her in the garbage, those sort of things.

But it's a happy ending because you just have to deal with it.

And it's one of the things in life you have to deal with.

And it was that he actually came up with his own solution.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then he taught his cousin how to do it.

I think the message can get across, but I think the book is really meant for a certain niche.

Right.

New parents have a second baby and that a gift from the baby isn't going to do it.

You have to be aware on a daily basis that, yes, I have to look after the baby.

Even though you need.

And it's a lesson in life.

My son has three children and my daughter has two children.

It's even that dynamic with my daughter.

There's a 10 year spread between her first daughter and her second daughter.

Whoa.

But there's still that.

Oh, it doesn't.

It won't go away.

Yeah.

And as they get older, guess what?

When my oldest granddaughter turned 12 and she could babysit, the parents had a built in babysitter, of course.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that creates the same dynamic, just a little different.

It's same, but different.

Have you thought about a second book?

What's Going on.

Now that you've had your book out for just over a year, what's your thought process about writing?

Have you written any other stories?

Because you said you're a storyteller.

Yeah, I like to tell the story, not worry about getting a page and they're drawing and.

Yeah, I just.

And the people who listen create their own images and get whatever.

Yes, absolutely.

That's amazing.

So have you recorded any stories or have you captured them?

I'm not doing.

I like live storytelling.

Yeah.

When the time comes, another one will flow.

Yeah.

I want to talk to you about success of your book.

And what I mean by that is when you got close to publishing your book, what kind of success, thinking about as in terms of.

Of success for your book, what did you have in mind?

And what happened when the book actually came to market?

Then I realized it had to fall into the hands of those pregnant people.

And so it wasn't for everybody.

And it might have been for.

If there are kids in the family, two or three in this sort of sibling rival, the same feelings backed him up for the child having the book read.

It's a certain niche.

And I could have gone on to pursue that niche, going to classes where these people are going and telling them they need the book.

But I never thought about, like, prenatal for the second book.

Yeah, exactly.

So anyhow, I haven't pursued that part of that.

But I haven't thought of just putting a couple of books in my bag when I'm going anywhere.

And if I see a pregnant mother with a toddler, I would just get a book and I'm probably going to do that.

That's a great idea.

When you talk to other adults and do you get people saying, oh, I can see myself in that.

Just like I've said, I see myself in your book.

Do you get a lot of that?

Some people have swamped.

Given them as gifts to people who they feel that's a good gift to get.

Yes, because I. I've talked to several children's book authors now, and a lot of them say when they do a book reading or go to a.

A book event, a lot of times they're finding adults are purchasing their children's book and they'll ask the question, why are you purchasing my children's book?

Are you purchasing it for your children or grandchildren?

And they said, no, actually, I'm purchasing it for myself because I can see myself as a young child in your book.

Lovely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that's always nice.

Have you ever had that happen to you?

No, I'd never gone to the senior's residence.

Aspiring authors.

I'm curious.

So as a children's book author, what advice would you give someone who's thinking, I just don't know how to get started, or how do I become a children's book author?

What kind of advice would you give them?

What I did, because I didn't really know anything about writing a book, and mine was so specific.

I got online and I found a group that does a whole day teaching, and you have to buy it and you have to be free that day to listen to about four very good lectures.

Authors that have written and not authors, but publishers and people that help publish the book.

So I did that.

I learned a lot, and I learned about how to do it and how I might do it.

So it was a good stepping stone.

And I would go back to that to do that if I were going to do another book.

Because they walk you through the things that.

Through each step, first of all, even.

The beginning, you do have to have a beginning and a very good middle to have a good end.

And you've only got between 500 and 1000 words to do it.

Yeah, yeah.

And you have very few words to do it.

So you learn the whole thing.

And learn to read books that do that.

Well, you see it.

Did you do much reading of children's books before you brought yours to market?

Oh, yes.

And then being storytelling.

Doing their storytelling at the why and having my own children.

So it was nice to have that background.

Yeah.

Encouragement for readers.

Why should children's book readers purchase your book?

My book?

Yes.

Because maybe they want to be pregnant if they already have a child.

And how it's meaningful.

But as you say, for people that might have memories of their own child, that's why I think her drawings are so well done.

She's got a lot of people in it.

And it's definitely a lot of fun, like I said, because I'm a big brother.

I love the concept, the whole concept.

And I was thinking, what is that?

What's the superpower that I have now?

The two.

Well, they all have, actually.

No question.

Your book is available through Amazon.

And did you also have it published through Ingram Sparks?

Yes, it did.

Okay.

So it's virtually available anywhere that online.

Online books are sold.

Yeah.

Great.

You're a true inspiration for me.

No, seriously.

You know what?

I have this goal is to live a long life.

It's because I always say, if you want to live a long life, and maybe you can verify this an I say get younger friends.

That helps, too.

Yes, I know.

With my grandchildren, I've taught them all how to ski and we still hang out.

It's nice.

And they're much younger than me, so that's part of my secret.

Yeah, no, it's the same.

I think it's not a hardship to age.

It's just living your life well and being with your grandchildren, with your family.

And makes a big difference.

And it's nice that you're still getting inspiration from your great grandchildren.

Yeah.

Yeah, I am.

Thank you so much for being a guest on the Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors Podcast.

Your generosity of time, your insights will definitely benefit aspiring authors and readers, and we promise to provide our audience with links to Ann's website.

And if you've enjoyed this episode, please hit the subscribe button to listen to future episodes.

And feel free to share this episode with anyone inspired by or who enjoys hearing about Ann and her children's book.

I am a big brother with a superpower.

Thank you, Ann.

We all have to remember we have that superpower, no question.