By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Children’s book author Jerry Pallotta started writing books after he was tasked by his wife, Linda, with reading to their kids.
His only advice to parents, he said is: “Read to your kids! Read to your kids ! Read to your kids!”
Then he added: “In my case, I got a career out of it.”
He recalls reading singsong alphabet books, and thinking they should be more interesting.
He was 32 at the time. Now he’s 70, and his four kids are grown. One’s a physical therapist, one is a nurse anesthetist, one did social media for Netflix, and one is a retired Army major who did three tours in Afghanistan.
Pallotta has written more than 90 books and has eight grandchildren, with two more on the way, who can enjoy them.
His “Who Would Win?” series of books in which he pits various fierce animals alive and extinct against one another, was selected as the 1BookBG reading.
On Sunday he spoke at the Wood County District Public Library before hitting the trail to visit six local elementary schools on Monday and Tuesday.
[RELATED: 1BookBG author Jerry Pallotta to tour local schools]
Appropriately given the featured series starts with a question, Pallotta started his presentation by taking questions. He wants to hear from kids, even if he’s baffled by their questions.
Who would win, one youngster asked, in a battle between a penguin and a penguin hawk?
The author had never heard of a penguin hawk.
Responding to the outcome of a confrontation between a python and a crocodile, he said they could go to YouTube and view a video of a python eating a crocodile, and even one of a python exploding after eating a crocodile.
He also gets mail from readers, including one youngster who called him “a jerk” and told him he shouldn’t be writing books. Who will win in author vs. dissatisfied young reader? Well, Pallotta still churning out the books.
On learning that lobster can grow back claws that have been cut off, one youngster suggested that Pallotta spread lobster guts on his bald head.
Coming across as a loving, but somewhat gruff grandpa, the author revels in kids’ inquisitiveness. As a writer he strives to address it as well as foster it. They think, he said, that he’s writing battle books, but he’s really writing comparison books packed with facts and humor.
He established his own foothold in the market with a series of alphabet books that include books about “icky” bugs, “yucky” reptiles, skulls, one on moths titled “Not a Butterfly Alphabet Book,” as well as one on butterflies, and even one on eyeballs.
His fascination with nature came from his youth spent living on the seashore in Scituate, Massachusetts. There was abundant sea life from whales to periwinkles.
As a teen he took to the water in his dory and harvested seaweed. That seaweed, he told the youngsters, is used as an emulsifier in their chocolate milk.
That small boat became the subject of its own picture book.
Now he’s an avocational lobsterman.
He hit upon the Who Will Win? concept after close encounters with a Killer Whale and a Great White Shark.
The whale was found dead on the beach, so this winning idea just washed up. The shark was the victim of being accidentally trapped in a fishing net. Sharks, he explained , need to keep moving to keep water flowing through their gills.
The shark’s skin was rough, and the whale’s smooth. A book, and series, was born.
He admitted to failures. One book pits Tyrannosaurus Rex against Velociraptor. Except he learned after publishing the book that Velociraptors were actually tiny, not at all like Steven Spielberg depicted them in the movie “Jurassic Park.”
Young readers continue to pepper him with suggestions for new books: hot dg vs. cheeseburger, or apple vs. orange, or Dunkin’ Donuts vs. Crispy Creme.
Maria Simon, youth services coordinator, said Pallotta inspired the young local library patrons to come up with their own match up. Their story? T-Rex vs. Unicorns.
[View ‘The Morning Show’ video of production of ‘T-Rex vs. Unicorns]
