Major congratulations are in order for my brother Jay Rosenstein, whose new illustrated children’s fiction book Why Weren’t the Firefighters Wearing Pajamas?: A Story About the Important People Who Work at Night, was recently published.
The story revolves around the overnight odyssey of a young boy, Danny; with his grandparents, and later his parents, as he observes (and eventually participates in) the world of late night and overnight workers, both blue collar and white collar.
Part of the message of the book, as I see it, is for young readers (age range 4-8) to continue cultivating a sense of awe, wonder, optimism, awareness, and appreciation for the world around them, night and day, as they get older.
At the end is a two page information section, More Things to Know About Night Workers, with such headings as “It’s Not Easy Being a Night Worker,” “What Does it Mean to Work “24/7,” and “Calling 9-1-1…Night or Day.”
The process of writing, editing, and behind the scenes activities took more than a decade. It began when Jay was working full time for the federal government, where he had a writing and editing career of more than 30 years (after working as a financial journalist), before retiring five years ago. Along the way, he enlisted a skilled and seasoned illustrator, Jim Starr, whose work greatly enhances the book.
Eventually Jay decided to self-publish through BookBaby. He’s been getting fantastic feedback about the book, and it’s easy to see why. The text and illustrations work perfectly together, and the story is fast-moving, thoughtful, and touching.
The publication of the new book reinforces that Jay has been on a roll as an author in his post-retirement. I interviewed him and his coauthor Syl Sobel in 2021 for their excellent book Boxed out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League. I also wrote about the book separately at the time, and in 2023, their publisher Rowman & Littlefield (which recently became part of Bloomsbury), published a paperback edition.
Syl, Jay, and their colleagues are also hard at work on a documentary related to the book.
Jay’s experience as an author, and the perseverance he has shown, should be an inspiration for writers worldwide, no matter their genre or type of writing. Putting in years of time, creativity, and effort paid off for him, and those are areas open to any writer who dreams of publishing books.