Fibblestax Author on a Roll
Devin Scillian invited to White House
As a globetrotting television reporter and news anchor for WDIV-TV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit, Devin Scillian is more accustomed to reporting Washington events than participating in them. But Scillian — author of children's books published by Sleeping Bear Press® — found himself in a somewhat soggy spotlight on April 12, reading to children on the rain-soaked South Lawn of the White House as an invited guest of First Lady Laura Bush.
Turns out Scillian is a favorite of Mrs. Bush, who has displayed his A Is for America in the White House. That book, like many of Scillian's, is set in rhyme:
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D is for Detroit and its shiny automobiles.
It's called the Motor City and it put the world on wheels.
It's Dallas and it's Denver and Dover, Delaware.
It's the Dakotas in December when snow is in the air.
(From A
Is for America: An American Alphabet, published by Sleeping
Bear Press)
As a musician, Scillian comes by his poetic style naturally. "I think in rhyme," he said, "and my writing has a rhythm to it." As for creating the stories, well, "I've always been a writer," Scillian says. "Even as a Cub Scout, I was the one who told stories around the campfire."
Still, the transition from writer to would-be author was a challenging one. His first book, Fibblestax, a humorous tale of a creative wordsmith who gives everything in the world its name, was written 14 years ago, "and it took 10 years to get it published," he notes. "I got a lot of rejection slips."
Then Scillian happened upon Legend of Sleeping Bear, an award-winning children's book published by Chelsea, Michigan-based Sleeping Bear Press, an imprint of Thomson Gale. Inspired, he submitted his manuscript to the publisher. "And this time, I got the phone call," he says. He has since become a prolific contributor to Sleeping Bear Press, creating alphabet books (S Is for Sooner; P Is for Passport), counting books (One Nation) and original stories (Cosmo's Moon).
On a roll at the White House
Scillian is in high demand as a speaker and presenter, but there are some invitations that compel you to drop everything … such as when the White House comes calling.
Scillian was invited to the White House Easter Egg Roll, held April 12. The author and his family arrived in Washington to meet a staff member who gave Scillian the book he'd be reading — Fibblestax. Scillian was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a copy from Laura Bush's own collection, one that he had signed for the First Family.
Washington-based Easter events date back more than a century — some historians believe Dolley Madison came up with the idea of a public "roll" — but this year's event had particular significance as it was the first to host civilian families since the September 11 terrorist events. With Scillian's children in attendance ("all dolled up in their Sunday best") and his book in place, the stage was set for a sunny and successful morning at the White House.
Mother Nature, however, had a different agenda. Showers pelted the South Lawn, curtailing the egg roll at noon and making the author wonder if anyone would stand in the rain to hear him read Fibblestax. "I saw all these kids running around," Scillian says. But as sat down to read, "all of the sudden I look up and all these kids were standing in front of me." (A Webcast of Scillian's reading is posted at www.whitehouse.gov.)
His other projects include adapting A Is for America to music, and a possible television special.
Find more information about Sleeping Bear Press.