World Cup Mouse Blog Tour

For this blog tour, we have an interview with Richard Seidman, the author of World Cup Mouse, by the mouse, François DuBois.

Bonjour, I’m François DuBois.

I’m here interviewing children’s book author, Richard Seidman.

François: Richard, I enjoyed reading World Cup Mouse, 
especially the parts with me in it!
 Your books are really funny.

Richard: Thank you, François. I love to make jokes
 and funny business. That’s one of the main reasons 
I enjoy writing – to amuse myself and children 
(and also the big children that we call “grown-ups”). 
For me, funny business is a way to love life, and it’s 
also a way to transform sorrows.

François: Why do you like writing about mice like 
me and Louie?

Richard: Some of my favorite literary characters are mice: Stuart Little,
 Dr. De Soto, Norman the Doorman, Desperaux. It’s fun to write about 
you mice guys.

François: Thanks. Where did you grow up, and what were you like as a child?

Richard: I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I was a really shy child, and to tell you the truth, I’m still pretty shy. I didn’t really know how to play chess when this picture was taken, but I liked moving the pieces around. My father, Herb, was one of the best chess players in the U.S. When I was growing up, playing games and sports and reading were the favorite things I enjoyed, and they’re still the favorite things I enjoy today! In high school and college, my number one passion was running.

François: My last name, you know, means “of the trees.” I heard that you were part of a tree-planting organization.

Richard: Yes. In the 1970s, I moved to Portland, Oregon, and in 1989 I founded the nonprofit tree-planting group, Friends of Trees. I’m proud that all these years later Friends of Trees is still going strong. More than 10,000 volunteers have planted more than 500,000 trees since the beginning of the organization.

François: Wow, that’s a lot of trees! What other accomplishments are you proud of?

Richard: Well, I’m proud of the book I wrote for grown-ups, The Oracle of Kabbalah: Mystical Teachings of the Hebrew Letters. In 2014, I’ll be publishing a revised version, The New Oracle of Kabbalah. And I’m proud that in the fall of 2014, after training in the martial arts for eighteen years, I finally earned a black belt in Shotokan Karate.

François: Congratulations. Remind me not to pick a fight with you.

Richard (laughing): Don’t worry, François.

François: My cheese soufflé is almost done. Is there anything else you want to say about yourself before we close?

Richard: Yes. I’m a member of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and a founding member of a local children’s book writing critique group. I helped create a nonfiction children’s book for Benchmark Education, I Am Deaf and I Dance: A Memoir. I now live in Ashland, Oregon with my beloved wife, Rachael Resch, our chickens, and our myriad stuffed animals and other small friends.

François: Any mice?

Richard: Only a stuffed toy Despearaux looking over my writing desk.

François: I guess that’s better than nothing. Well, thanks for the interview.

Richard: Thank you. Please say hi to Louie for me.

François: Oui. Au revoir.

ABOUT RICHARD SEIDMAN:

Richard Seidman loves to make jokes and, as he puts it, “funny business.” He says that’s one of the main reasons he enjoys writing – to amuse himself and children (and also the big children that are called “grown-ups”).

For Richard, funny business is a way to love life, and it’s also a way to transform sorrows. His ancestors, their hearts full of stories and hopes, fled to the U.S. from Poland and Ukraine in the early part of the twentieth century. Forty years later, Richard was born in Brooklyn, New York. 

When he was growing up, playing games and sports and reading were the main things he enjoyed, and they’re still the main things he enjoys today! 


Richard wound up in Portland, Oregon where in 1989 he founded the nonprofit tree-planting group, Friends of Trees. In 1996, he was honored as a “Community Hero” for his role as the group’s founder and carried the Olympic torch in its national relay. 

In 2001, St. Martin’s Press published his nonfiction book for adults, The Oracle of Kabbalah: Mystical Teachings of the Hebrew Letters. Richard will be releasing a revised edition, The New Oracle of Kabbalah, in fall of 2014.

He’s a member of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and a founding member of a local children’s book writing critique group. He’s also the editor and compiler of a nonfiction children’s book published by Benchmark Education, I Am Deaf and I Dance: A Memoir.

In the fall of 2013, after training in the martial arts for eighteen years, Richard earned a black belt in Shotokan Karate.

He now lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife, Rachael. For more information about Richard and his books for children, visit www.richardseidman.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

“Where there’s a mouse, there’s a way,” says Louie LaSurie. But it will take more than lofty words for Louie to achieve his goal: to be the first mouse to play for France in the World Cup soccer tournament.
World Cup Mouse (May 2014) by Richard Seidman is a comic, action-filled tale of friendship and pursuing one’s dream even when it seems impossible. For example, how can Louie ever manage to kick a human-sized soccer ball and not just the dried pea with which he has been practicing? How can he avoid getting squished by the thrashing feet of the giant humans? And can he overcome his own self-doubts and fiery temper? Aided by his best friend, François, and the human girl, Rose, Louie gives it his best shot.
Louie's ambition and personality are brought to life through Seidman’s words and artist Ursula Andrejczuk’s illustrations in this book for seven to ten-year-olds. “I love the humor and absurdity of Louie’s aspiration,” Seidman says, “and at the same time I admire his crazy determination and chutzpah. He inspires me, even as he makes me laugh.”
Seidman will contribute a percentage of the profits of each book sold to organizations that support youth soccer around the world.
“I had tears in my eyes and chills up my spine,” reported one reader. 
Another reader said, “You know, I thought it would be for really little kids because there's a talking mouse, but actually I really enjoyed it and I'm almost eleven."
World Cup Mouse releases just in time for the 2014 World Cup tournament that begins in June in Brazil.
Richard Seidman lives in Ashland, Oregon where he writes books for children and adults. For more information, go to www.worldcupmouse.com.

SOUNDS INTERESTING?