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It's a jungle out there, and for bestselling children's author Amy Parker and her bedtime readers, that's a good thing.
More personally, for Parker, a true believer, it's a God thing.
"It's really fun when a new book lands on my doorstep, but the best part is seeing how kids interact or having a mom tell me, 'My child says 'night night, God every night,'" said Parker, who graduated from Watertown High School in 1994.
Parker, who lives in Murfreesboro with her husband and two sons, has written more than 50 books and sold over 1.5 million copies.
About her newest book, "Night Night, Jungle," she said, "We researched rainforest animals--their habitats and their behaviors--and then tried to put as many of those details as possible into a cozy, rhyming 'Night Night' book. So, while little ones are being lulled to sleep in the jungle, they're also learning about the true nature of the rainforest itself.
"The idea of the 'Night Night' books goes with the routine of getting kids to bed. It makes it easier when we present it with something kids love like, OK, animals. We did 'Night Night, Train' and 'Night Night, Farm,' and 'Jungle' was just a natural extension," said Parker, whose original inspiration for the series came late one night when she was having a tough time getting her 3-year-old son to fall asleep.
"I had exhausted all of the usual go-to-sleep methods, and I was exhausted myself. I had read our books, sung our songs, and he still would not go to sleep. So I looked up, and out the window, there were some trees swaying in the dark. I whispered, 'Shh, the trees are sleeping.'
"I thought, even if he didn't want to go to sleep, maybe he would be quiet so that the trees could rest. And he got quiet for a moment. Seizing that moment, I began to point out everything I could think of, 'Shh, the birds are sleeping. . . . Shh, the sun is sleeping.'
"And as he drifted off to sleep, the verses began to flow. I jumped up and wrote a quick draft and later submitted it to Tommy Nelson, and the publisher, Laura Minchew, suggested the title, "A Night Night, Prayer."
As for how "Night Night, Jungle" found its way into the Rainforest Café, she said that she and her marketing director were lunching at Opry Mills and trying to come up with a venue for the release party. The director suggested they check out Rainforest Café.
"We walked in, and it's just like you're in the jungle. There's the soft sound of thunder and rain, and there are animals everywhere--elephants, hippos, frogs. There's a huge fish tank in the wall. It's just so perfect for the release of 'Night Night, Jungle.' We asked if they might have a party room, and once we told them what we were needing it for, she said, 'We have a kids' night every Wednesday night.' And we just knew we'd found the right spot."
A few weeks later, Parker received an email from Landry Inc, the owner of the Rainforest Café chain, asking if they could carry the book in all 21 of their restaurants, including two at Disney World and one at Disneyland.
After graduating from Watertown High, Parker enrolled in the nursing program at Cumberland University and discovered during her first semester that English was her favorite subject, thus she transferred to Middle Tennessee State University, planning to become an English teacher.
During her junior year at MTSU, a teacher asked her if she would be interested in an intership with a publisher. So she took the gig at Tommy Nelson, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, and the company that today publishes her "Night Night" series.
"When I got there, I completely fell in love with the publishing industry. I knew this is where I was supposed to be," Parker recollected. "On the first day, a managing editor gave me advice about gleaning wisdom from everything. She told me, 'Just listen, soak it up. You'll learn more than you know.' I took that to heart and soaked up everything."
Graduating from MTSU in December 2000, the following September she was offered a job as an editor at Thomas Nelson in Nashville.
"As an editor, it was more of project management from beginning to end, working with author, designer, proofreaders and production," she said.
Among the authors she worked with were musicians Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, Naomi Judd and Michael W. Smith, comedian Andy Andrews and animal expert/TV host Jack Hannah. "I got to see what excellence is. I got to see traits that made all these people excellent at what they do," she said of the experience.
As for what advice she might offer those who dream of writing books for youngsters, Parker said, "Never, never, never give up. Just keep going. Because, if you're an aspiring children's author, that desire and aspiration was put in your head by the One who will get you there."
