UNCLE E

CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR

Happy Easter, everyone! What a beautiful season of spring to bring you the birth of the year of the child! As we continue to learn new and improved ways to reclaim our children in the village, I present to you a gentleman who has definitely captured my heart with his book series, “The Adventures of Diggle, Boogie & Lolo (also known as the DBL Adventures).

Sit back and relax, enjoy the absolutely beautiful pictures, and let’s get to know a very successful African-American “male” Author of children’s books, Uncle E and how his books prove to be very successful readings for children of all ages, really.

S: Uncle E, please tell us about The Adventures of Diggle, Boogie & Lolo.

U: The Adventures of Diggle, Boogie & Lolo, or as you I say for short, DBL Adventures, is a children’s book series written in rhyme that promotes family values and character development. It’s like Dr. Seuss and the Huxtables rolled into one.

S: How wonderful that it is written in rhyme because it has been proven since the beginning of time that children learn more easily and quickly through rhymes. It holds true for adult beginners as well. I like that. Now children’s books are the toughest market to become an author in, especially African-American authors. What inspired you to become a children’s book author and in a field where few African-American male Authors exist?

U: (Smiling) Well, I’m actually a wanna be actor, performer, director. My wife is a singer. Family life happened and our dreams of New York and Hollywood faded. I had a defining moment about a year and a half ago that I just couldn’t let these dreams fade away, but I also knew that we couldn’t abandon our family to pursue them, SOOOOO we decided to integrate the family into the books. The main characters are our kids. My wife and I are the supporting cast. And as far as the market, I actually saw the opposite. The children’s book market is actually ripe in the African-American community (there will always be kids). You just have to find a way to get our kids into books. And that has been one of our goals.

S: And that is quite an accomplished goal. How did you come up with the characters’ names?

U: As I stated, the characters are my kids and those are their actual nicknames. My son, Eric is called “Diggle." Why? I can’t really tell you. That’s what he’s been since he was one or two. But because I have meanings for the other nicknames, Diggle has decided to let folks know “it because he likes to dig." My oldest daughter, Taylor is nicknamed “Boogie.” Her favorite song at the age of two was “Flashlight” by George Clinton. Every time she heard the song, she would start to Boogie. My daughter Lauryn is nicknamed because the first letter of her first and middle name is “LO” (Lauryn Olivia), so we call her “LoLo."


And as for me, I’m 'UNCLE E.' That’s short for Uncle Stunkle Runkle Riffy Tiffy Jiffy BLOOP BLOOP P.U. SNIFFY Ericsonville. (Can you say that backwards really fast?) From the beginning, I had planned to be in this business for a long time and make a mark like Dr. Seuss. I thought “if Dr. Seuss is going to be Dr. Seuss then I needed a pen name, too.” I chose UNCLE E
because at the end of the book(s), I just wanted to be considered another part of the family.

S: Beautiful! (laughter). Incredible! I love the whole concept of a “cast of characters.” What inspired you to do a children’s book series based on your family?

U: Well, family is THE MOST IMPORTANT element of life for me. Without family, I’m lifeless. I was abandoned when I was five years old. My mom left me at a Greyhound bus station. And like a good portion of our kids today, I had (and still have) absolutely NO IDEA who my father was. That experience really did a mind job on my identity and esteem. Fast forwarding some 20+ years later, I see that there are things that I appreciate about family life that many people take for granted if mom and dad are always there. It was important to me when my kids made their first snowman or when my son played on the basketball team for the first time. My son is eight and my oldest daughter just turned five. Five is a milestone for me because every time one of my children reach and surpass five, then they get to overcome the traumatic event that happened to me when I was five. I know that might sound deep, but I feel as if I (and now with the family, "WE") exist to promote family and family values. Divorces are on the rise. Kids are being raised by Internet and television. It’s as if the family is becoming an endangered species.


S: Excuse me folks, (hugs). Ok, I just had to give you that big warm hug. Uncle E you just spoke some very true and powerful words and the delivery of those words was first class in real time. What makes your series unique from other children’s books? Amen? Amen!

U: Well, the obvious reason is our true to life family component. A lot of kids are wowed when they see that Diggle, Boogie and LoLo are real people. In addition, with our Read-A-Long CD, my kids do the voiceover work for the book. Every time Diggle is speaking in the book, you’re going to hear the Real Diggle…the same with Boogie. We’re working on LoLo. She was just one when we started, but her vocabulary is improving. In addition to that, our books are also unique because they are FUN!!! If you can imagine a book being fun. Well actually, it’s the CDs. You have no idea how many times I hear a parent tell me how many times they have to hear the same Read-A-Long CD. One mom told me she was mad at me. She said she could not listen to her Beyonce CD because her kids always wanted to hear Diggle, Boogie & LoLo. We try to create books that are educational, morally sound, and ADVENTUROUS!!!

S: Folks you just have to purchase the series for your child(ren) and what a perfect present for birthdays, First Communion gifts, and every-day fun. One visit to Uncle E’s website will definitely make you a fan of his all-star cast! You can order The DBL Adventures by placing an order at http://www.dbladventures.com/ today, but be warned the books sell out quickly and you may have to be placed on the waiting list! Let me ask you, how does a parent introduce a child to books?

U: They just read the book to them. There is a sobering statistic that the average black/latino 12th grader is on the same reading level as the average white 7th grader. I have reason to believe that’s because our white parental counterpart expose books to their children when they are as early as one (even earlier). By the time the child is old enough to comprehend, they are in the habit of having books in their life. I hear OUR folks tell me sometime “oh he/she has too many books”. I think, WOW. You wouldn’t say, we’ve seen too many movies. We can bare to watch yet another movie!