Ryanne Siddiq - A Moving Children's Book About Friendship

Ryanne is a kind-hearted and silly storyteller and book connoisseur. She has a no-nonsense American attitude mixed with a little bit of Mediterranean warmth and charm. Ryanne loves race cars and unicorns, and she’s fairly certain that coffee flows through her veins! She drives a stick in stilettos, appreciates good food and great company, and smiles when the birds sing outside her window. When Ryanne got too sick to drive the fun cars, she decided to write about them instead. Her journey went from award-winning financial professional to best-selling children's book author after debilitating symptoms and a devastating diagnosis forced her to hit the brakes. Now, you can find Ryanne racing through books, motherhood, chronic illness, and LIFE one corner at a time!  As our Author of the day, Ryanne tells us all about her book, Speedy Phoebe and the Wheely Great Friendship.What inspired you to create the Carson Elementary Series, and how did the idea of carlettes come to life?I tell everyone that I’m the car girl who got too sick to drive the fun cars, so I wrote about them instead!My journey goes from award-winning financial professional to best-selling children's book author after debilitating symptoms forced me to hit the brakes. I was so sick, one of the few things I could do was read. The more I read, the more ideas came to me, until Speedy Phoebe was born.When developing the characters with my first illustrator, the idea of creating a term for the young cars came up, and I raced with it - using carlettes as a fun description!Speedy Phoebe and the Wheely Great Friendship has themes of friendship, generosity, and perseverance. Why did you choose these particular themes for the story?It felt like a natural jumping off point from book one - where Phoebe and McKayla were not friends, and McKayla wasn’t very nice to Phoebe. It was because of Phoebe’s actions in book one - being kind to herself as well as being kind to others (even when they were not kind to her) - that led to Phoebe and McKayla becoming friends in book two. Phoebe’s continued kindness and support for McKayla in book two helped foster McKayla’s generosity, teaching many important life lessons. The subtle themes of Phoebe’s forgiveness, McKayla’s efforts to return Phoebe’s kindness, as well as empathy and support from both sides of the friendship resonated deep with me as an adult and as a parent trying to instill these qualities in my own children!As for perseverance - let’s just say that it has become a huge theme for me in my life and in my books as well. My personal journey with my health struggles has shown me just how important perseverance is, and it seems to be woven into my stories almost subconsciously!How do you hope young readers will relate to Phoebe and McKayla?In all the ways! Maybe one child relates physically to Phoebe by being small or having glasses. Maybe McKayla resonates with them because they want something that’s not being given to them. But I wanted kids to relate in as many ways possible, because I feel the lessons land stronger when children can see themselves in the character’s shoes.The carlettes have unique personalities. How did you develop Phoebe and McKayla’s characters?Phoebe and the other carlettes are inspired by a combination of different cars and people in my life. The cars because they absolutely have distinct attributes, and the people because they are huge parts of my life.When I do school readings, one of my favorite questions to as is what cars do the kids think inspired the characters!The book includes a surprising accident that changes their plans. What lesson do you hope children take away from how the characters handle setbacks?This goes back to perseverance and why it’s so important to me. We all hit roadblocks in our lives, but it’s how we navigate them that adds or detracts from our journey. So if I can positively model healthy ways for people of any age to respond to challenges, I’m honored to have a small part in their journey too.Friendship plays a big role in the story. What do you think makes a "wheely great" friend in real life?I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people in my life. They’re the kind of friends who laugh and celebrate with you as much as they cry and get upset on your behalf. To me, a “wheely great” friend is someone with empathy, someone who knows when to push you, and when to just sit by your side and hold your hand. Someone who can drive in your wheels, so to speak!Ekaterina Buinovskaia’s illustrations are vibrant and full of energy. What was the collaboration process like between you and the illustrator?I decided after the first Speedy Phoebe that I wanted each book in the series to be illustrated by a new illustrator - I wanted to keep each book fresh and unique while using the same characters and familiar elements, in each illustrator’s individual style. Ekaterina was really wonderful to work with and really stepped up to the challenge! I think the most beneficial aspects of our collaboration was clear, open communication and respect for each other and our roles in the process. It allowed her talent to shine through while bringing the story to life in such an incredible way! I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to work with her.The book includes interactive opportunities for young readers. Can you tell us more about these and how they enhance the reading experience?Both books include a QR code at the back where adults can download free coloring pages for the kids. This allows them to become a part of the action, coloring the characters and scenes as they imagine them! From there, adults can send me pictures of the masterpieces and I can respond to each one.There’s also the trading card pages with character stats, allowing for questions about where those stats come from and what they mean.Additionally, in Speedy Phoebe and the Wheely Great Friendship, the carlettes practice for a dance challenge - so your little carlettes can “wiper dance” and “wheel bump” too!The glossary at the end is a fun addition for car-loving kids. What inspired you to include it?The glossary is a fun way for kids who love cars to show their knowledge! However, I actually included the glossary for kids and families who aren’t familiar with some of the car terms used. I wanted to tell the stories and teach the lessons using fun car characters, but I also wanted it to appeal to kids who may not have the same familiarity or experience with the car world.How does Speedy Phoebe and the Wheely Great Friendship differ from the first book in the series?Both books have strong kindness and perseverance aspects, but Speedy Phoebe book one was more about Phoebe learning about herself - how her differences make her a winner, how important it is to be kind to yourself and others, and so on.In Speedy Phoebe and the Wheely Great Friendship, the kindness shifts outwards towards generosity and empathy. The carlettes show generosity through being generous with their time and efforts in addition to physical gifts; both carlettes show empathy through their efforts to help a friend in their respective time of need. And I love how the end result shows of generosity and empathy from different perspectives, giving children multiple examples of what they could look like.What advice do you have for parents and teachers on how to use this book as a learning tool?When I do school readings, I ask ahead of time what (if any) character attributes they have for the year/month/week. For example, the last school did monthly attributes which included responsibility, resilience, and compassion. After I read, I am able to have a discussion with the students and ask for examples of when the carlettes showed those attributes. This could easily work in a home setting as well!The other way that the series can be used as a teaching tool would be in actual grammar discussions with things like sentence structure. A big one is alliteration with the character names, which of course gives a big clue as to what kind of cars inspired the characters!Will we see more adventures featuring Phoebe and the other carlettes? Any hints about upcoming books in the Carson Elementary Series?Oh I want to give all the hints! Of course Leo from Speedy Phoebe book one will have his time to shine, since the girls have their moment in book two. The back pages of both current books have another mystery character in them who will be properly introduced as well. And at some point, the carlettes will go on an epic road trip - who knows what fun adventures they will get up to!