Drawing Children by the Hundreds
by Bridget Kinsella -- Publishers Weekly, 3/4/2002
When Ila Wallen first began the story that became her book The Moon in My Room, released last month by Bent Willow Publishing, she was simply a student working on a college project. Now, just halfway into her tour of Borders Books and Music locations around the country, she is drawing crowds of more than 200 people.
As in the book, in which a sleepless young bear afraid of the dark turns to those around him for help, friends and family helped Wallen. She and her father, Bill Wallen, hatched the concept for a series of Willowbe Woods books—starting with The Moon in My Room and to be followed by two new titles a year—that, through campfire stories, help children work out their problems.
Ila, her father and then-16-year-old brother, Michael, soon had something to show Sue Zussman, marketing manager of their local Borders in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "When I first saw The Moon in My Room, it was not a bound book," Zussman told PW. "But it translated perfectly into a book." The finished book is illustrated by Robert Sauber.
Bill Wallen has been a creative director on feature films for Universal, Columbia Tri-Star and other studios. After much success working with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Wallen started a family entertainment company with longtime associate Patrick Davidson. Two years ago they created Bent Willow Publishing, dedicated to family entertainment and children's causes. Keeping things in the family, Ila's mother, Carolyn, is Bent Willow's general office manager and brother David is the Webmaster of www.bentwillowpublishing.com. The first reading was at a Borders Pajama Mania event. "We had 250 people," said Zussman. "That night alone we sold 100 books." Part of the draw at The Moon in My Room events was the costumed character of Will the cub, wearing pajamas and clutching a stuffed penguin. "We did things that I didn't know we weren't supposed to do, like building a set," said Bill Wallen.
The second book in the Willowbe Woods series, The Not-Me Monster, will debut at BEA in New York and be released in the fall. After that, look for the creation of ancillary products and perhaps children's programming featuring the campfire characters.
"My hope is that every time they release a book in the series we will be a part of that celebration," said Zussman.
Ila Wallen is touring on the East Coast and will continue on through the Midwest this month. She'll move on to Dallas and the Pacific Northwest and then back to Los Angeles for the L.A. Times Festival of Books this spring. Aside from appearances at Borders, Ila Wallen reads at children's hospitals where Bent Willow donates copies of The Moon in My Room.
