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Speaker 1: Hello, and good morning, Sandra.

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Speaker 2: How are you doing today, Good morning, I'm great. Thank

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you so much for speaking with me.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, you made me feel like a kid.

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When this book arrived and I pulled it out of

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that box, I'm going, oh my god, it was like

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I was revisiting my childhood because we had books like

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this as a child, with the boots and the really

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super thick pages, and it was like it was like,

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oh my god, happy, it's so so amazing. But but

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of course, you know, as an adult, I have to

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go but it's so short. But to a child, though,

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it's got to be a big thick book.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean we're yes, because we're looking at

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sharing this with with with little ones who are like

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two to five years old. So five pages pretty much

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is the standard for that. It kind of works and

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they don't get bored, and then they can learn these jokes.

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You know, it's a little more than that might be

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hard for them to remember them.

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Speaker 3: I want to know how many young adults and young

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children are going to put this this book in their

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bed because it is like a stuffed animal with those boots.

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Speaker 4: Thank you for realizing that.

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Speaker 2: For the last twenty five years I've been working with

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Scholastic making board books that have novelty items. So often

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we put ears in the town for a little tales,

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or reindeer, you know, antlers, you know, all kinds of

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fun things because they aren't like stuffed animal. We combined

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books with these soft, wonderful, plushy pieces that really give

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a child somebody to hold on to and engage in

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with the book. And this does exactly the same thing

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with the fun little boots leather boots sticking out the

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top of the book and Santa's red pants.

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Speaker 3: How did you decide on these particular jokes, because I

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mean when when I was paging through it. First of all,

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I love the fact that the word the answer is

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upside down and that that really kind of forced me

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to use my own imagination. But it was like, wow,

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that was so enjoyable. But how did they do this?

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How did how did they get to this point?

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, I spent a lot of time thinking

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about Santa and and why he's so merry and jolly,

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and I realized he must be a great joke teller.

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So I thought, who would be telling jokes too? Will

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you be telling jokes? Is reindeer into the snowmen and

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the gingerbread cookies. So we really built it around what

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are those special moments with Santa during the holidays and

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little ones that they need to be simple words. It

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needs to be short joke with a real funny, punny tagline.

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So that was what we did. We just built it

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around that, and so now we have really fun like

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you know, what is Santa's dog's name? Is one of

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my favorites, and do you know what Santa's Dog's name is?

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Speaker 1: Santa Paus. I should know. I should have known that, right,

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you know, like.

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Speaker 2: I always kind of dream, how do I see these

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kids using this book. I imagine a little one getting the.

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Speaker 4: Book, parents' grandparents.

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Speaker 2: Reading it to them, and then they're sitting at the

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dining room table and they're sharing jokes with the family.

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Speaker 4: So they become the.

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Speaker 2: Star and they feel proud. And that's really what I

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wanted with this book, to get kids this opportunity to

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sort of be, you know, the joke teller in the

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star of the show. So that makes me.

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Speaker 3: Happy, yeah, because I mean, you know, for the past

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few years we've had the dad jokes, but I mean,

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I think this is the first time that I've really

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felt like that, You've said, no, let the kids share

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the jokes.

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Speaker 1: It's time for them to say something funny.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that is exactly the heart of it, you know.

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I just them the opportunity to share these jokes but

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then make up their own. And I can imagine parents

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and grandparents and brothers and sisters sitting around the table

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telling other jokes. So then we're creating.

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Speaker 4: Meaningful moments, meaningful.

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Speaker 2: Memories together during the holidays. And I think that's what

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it's all about.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know what, that builds up confidence.

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Speaker 3: When you can share a joke even though it's bad,

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and you laugh about it, it'll build up a person's

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confidence in a heartbeat.

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Speaker 2: Agency, we want kids to feel good about themselves and

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feel like they can use their voice and and this

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is just one tool in our two tool chest to

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do that.

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Speaker 3: It's fascinating that you're working with Scholastic because when I

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was a kid way back in the city, Scholastic was

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there for us. I mean they made sure that we

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had books in our hands. So to see that they're

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still doing this today just blows me away.

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Speaker 2: Oh, they are still doing it. I mean they are

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doing school. You know book programs all over the country.

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They are engaged in art contest or kids, encouraging creativity.

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Speaker 4: They're supporting young authors and illustrators.

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Speaker 2: I mean they are you know, like truly, they had

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such a legacy and they're so trusted and it is

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an honor to work with them. I work with a

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team there that is unbelievable because our books look simple,

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but they're complicated and the idea of the engineering and

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the innovation and making, you know, working with vendors who

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make sure they are safe and sturdy and strong and

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the color stays good. And then we have editors and

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art directors there who are are just are none, They're

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the best in the world. So I am one very

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happy camper to call Scolases my family.

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Speaker 3: So who gets credit for doing the illustration, because that's

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a major part of this journey.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, No, I write and illustrate the books. I

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also work with my daughter now who's in our studio,

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and my sister. So you know, Hannah is really great

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on the computer and she's really helped me animate things,

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and so it's really a family's there, and that's been

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really fun too to grow this business. She's been with

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us for about five years, and we're all working together,

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you know, to put books in the hands of little ones.

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And you know, I say they're all love letters. Every

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book we've done is a love letter to children all

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over the world. And you know, we want them to

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be the best they can be, and we want to

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give them the skills and the tools to do that

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through through the way that we share stories with kids.

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Speaker 3: So are you like the rock stars and the movie

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stars when it comes to sharing Christmas stories? You actually

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did this in the middle of summer when it was

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one hundred and two degrees outside.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, last summer.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's a long one.

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Speaker 2: It's a couple of years to bring a book to market.

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It's not like breath on a baby. It takes a

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lot longer. But we do call them a book We

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call them book babies because they do come to and

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this one's having a lovely birth right now.

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Speaker 3: So do you use your imagination in the way that

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radio people do that It's it's like we're never just talking.

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It's just that we always have that that receiver in mind.

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And as an author, do you do you see those

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young children just staring at your words and pictures?

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Speaker 4: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. That's part of the whole process for me.

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I'm trying to see you. I feel like I can

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see the child go to the stocking and this is

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a perfect stocking stuff for customer side comes, and they're

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reading that with their grandparents or or a mom or

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a dad, or a sibling. And then I see them

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sitting right at the head of the table telling those jokes,

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and I love that. That's how I create, you know, like,

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how will.

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Speaker 4: This book be used? And what I'm always thrown.

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Speaker 2: Away with ticket letters and emails from people who say, oh,

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but we used it this way, thank you. You know,

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our child was in the nick you and you know

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we weren't able to read to our child in the

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middle of the night, so we use one of your

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recordable books so that they could hear a voice throughout

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the night. Or or I love you Honey, Bunny has

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really rabid ears at the top, and our child was

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afraid to go to sleep at night, and they held

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the book all night long because the bunny Honey Bunny

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with them.

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Speaker 4: So it's those kinds.

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Speaker 2: Of then I begin to create out of that. I'm like,

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oh my goodness. So if that was helpful, what could

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we create what might be more helpful in another way.

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So those are the that's the way the ideas generate

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for me in people's stories and telling me how they

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use the books and what the children's love about the

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children loves about them. Like I had one family write

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to me. We did a book what's plastic called I

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Rough You and it has little puppy ears coming off

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the top. And they say, we don't say love you anymore.

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Our family we also any whenever we say hello or goodbye,

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we say I rough you. And so that's the new

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way of saying I love you and I love that if.

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Speaker 4: I rough that.

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Speaker 3: You know what this book does It inspires a young

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mind to actually pick up a book and read it.

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I mean, I love me some audible, but I think

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it makes us a lazy readers. It's like, why should I,

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you know, read if I'm going to get the sound?

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And this book right here gets them right there at

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that age where it's like fall in love with reading

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because from reading comes writing, writing reaches other people.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that is it is so true, and that's what

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we want. We want kids to be excited and engaged,

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and you know that's how they become who they're meant

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to be, you know, and you know, for little ones

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zero to three, reading is essential, Singing is essential, playing

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is essential because that's how we build all those little

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neurons and from that timetime zero to three, our brains

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grow the most that they ever grow in their whole life.

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So the more stimulation, the more engagement that we have,

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the better. And it's just some little single moments throughout

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the day that do that. It's not the big stuff,

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it's all the little stuff together that makes a big impact.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 3: Where can people go to find out more about you

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and everything that you have shared with the world.

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Speaker 2: Oh, you're so sweet? While you have a website, it's

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my name, Sandra mcsammon. We have an Instagram with the

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same name. On our website, we have lots of wonderful

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activities and coverfaring pages and things that are molding and

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play and share with your kids. And the books are

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really everywhere books are sold. You can go in your

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online retailer, your neighborhood store. You know, if you're at

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the mall, the big store is there. It's been really

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wonderful to see how far and wide Santa has flown

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in our little books. This year. It's been really wonderful.

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Speaker 3: Please come back to the show anytime in the future.

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The door is always going to be open for you.

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Speaker 1: Sandra.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, and I'm so grateful for you and really

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appreciate the time you're.

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Speaker 4: Sharing with me.

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Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today? Okay, thank you.

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Speaker 4: I appreciate that.

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Speaker 2: I'll try