Book Trailer Premiere: The Stray by Molly Ruttan

Happy Wednesday! I am celebrating the third day of Children's Book Week with Molly Ruttan. She dropped by to share The Stray's book trailer and to discuss Grub, Nancy Paulsen Books, picture books, and school libraries. I wrote the words in purple, and Molly wrote the words in black. Thank you, Molly!

The Stray’s book trailer was so much fun to create. I’ve always been fascinated with animation, and I had been imagining how a trailer could work for a long time, so when it came time to make it, I dove in! I had to upgrade my entire computer system to be able to run the software, which I taught myself as I went along, (with a lot of help from You Tube videos!) Making Grub’s eyes move, and making things fly through the air was so exciting! I became temporarily obsessed with the process, actually; I worked on it for two weeks straight without coming up for air!

Grub is that pet that everyone has had, at one time or other. Haven’t you ever wondered sometimes, when they have done something particularly cute, mysterious, or even just plain weird, if your dog, cat or other animal friend has really come from another world?

Nancy Paulsen Books is a group of incredibly talented and creative people, who I feel so extremely fortunate to be working with! I am forever grateful to Nancy Paulsen, master editor, for taking a chance with me and my debut book. Thank you, Nancy! And Thank you, Cecilia Yung, master art director! And to everyone at Nancy Paulsen Books, you guys rock!

Picture books are like pieces of music. They are wonderful to read alone, but even more wonderful to share. Some make you want to leap up and dance, others make you want to curl up under blankets, others make you want to laugh, or cry, or both! Picture books are such a wonderful, varied, endless form of expression, and like music, they start out with one person’s spark and grow into a unique and realized piece in the collaboration.

School libraries are absolutely essential, and absolutely places of wonder and adventure. I was a really shy kid, so going into the library was intimidating for me. I remember the librarians being so nice and welcoming, and they allowed it to become a place where I could explore and thrive. I have SO much respect for librarians and everything they do. 

Mr. Schu, you should have asked me what gave me the idea for this book! I have taken in and cared for many strays; the idea of helping a lost animal has always been close to my heart. I have a wonderful family, and I’ve always enjoyed looking at the stars and imagining that we are not alone in this universe, so this book is really a combination of things that I love. The spark for this book came to me one day while I was attending a UFO conference with my twin sister. At the time my brother and sister-in law had a dog they were fostering that was wrecking a bit of havoc in their home, so I put the two together!

Look for The Stray on May 18, 2020. 

When a family goes for a stroll one morning and encounters an adorable little creature with no collar or tag (who just happens to be sitting in the wreckage of an unidentified crash-landed object), they happily adopt the lovable stray. They name him Grub and set about training him, but that works surprisingly…poorly. Taking him for a walk is an unexpected adventure, too. As hard as they try to make Grub feel at home, it’s just not working. Could he already have a family of his own? Maybe he isn’t really a stray, after all—just lost. But how on earth will they be able to find his family when he seems to come from somewhere…out of this world?