Book: The Bird & The Bee
Q1. Please introduce yourself so that the readers will get to know you better.
I’m Jonnie Forster. Husband to Kamilah. Father to Ivy Paisley. Son of Fran and Irwin from Brooklyn New York. Brother to Evan, Brian, and Darren. I’m the youngest of four sons. We grew up in Westlake Village California. I’ve been in the music industry my entire career. This is my first book.
Q2. What is your inspiration behind your book “The Bird & The Bee”?
Around 10 years ago, I was relaxing by myself looking at the lake in Lake Tahoe. A hummingbird flew over my shoulder and hovered for a long time. He was ten feet away began feeding on some flowers next to a bunch of bees. I didn’t run from the bees, the bird didn’t fly away from me, we all just were chillin. I recently was married and my wife is African American and I’m Jewish. I thought to myself, I’m looking at the bird and the bee, and I took on the role of the hummingbird. I realized that when I have a child, I’m going to need to tell the story of the Bird and the Bees and here they were right in front of me. Fast forward through the pandemic, I was in quarantine and had the time to finally put my ideas down and now I’m an author.
Q3. When did you realize you want to be an author of Children’s Book?
I realized that there was no animated feature film of the birds and the bees yet. How can that be? I began to write a movie script and then a friend of mine suggested I make a children’s book instead to protect the idea. I thought I was going to self-publish a few copies and then start talking about my idea for the movie but when I saw the images come to life, I knew we were on to something much more important.
Q4. Are you planning to release your next book soon?
I am being encourage to write a series of books on The Bird and The Bee. Since we have it published now by Simon & Shuster, the plan is to actually make it into a TV show which can actually be its own e-book.
Q5. For which age group your books are suitable?
The Bird and The Bee is perfect for ages 4-8. It’s a great first read (My daughter who is 4 is learning to read from it). The illustrations are so spectacular that older kids are also loving it.
Q6. What is your favorite Quote?
It’s the mantra my 4 year old says: “I Can Do Anything I Set My Mind To Do.” I also love the theme of this book – “Love Over Everything.”
Q7. What do you like the most about your country?
I love that we can wake up and decide our own fate. We can decide, today I’m going to write a children’s book.
Q8. What suggestion you want to give to parents of little readers regarding a reading habit?
Read every day to your child. Make sure you point at the words that they have trouble with and sound it out for them. Do not skip over the hard ones, have them visually see the letters so their brain can absorb the sounds. Reward them when they get the words right with a “YAY.”
Q9. What does literary success look like to you?
Finishing what you start. Always, finish what you start.
Q10. Lastly, who is your inspiration in life and why?
My parents are my inspiration. They had 4 boys, 18 months apart each. I can’t imagine the amount of sacrifice that took. They also instilled in all of us values of being there for each other no matter what. Times are tough, it’s always great to know you have family in your corner.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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