When it comes to writing children’s books, Forestville native Ruth S Payne said some of her ideas for her books have come from dreams.

Payne, who now resides in Florida, was a kindergarten and substitute teacher at Forestville Elementary School for over 20 years, retiring with her husband to Naples, Florida in 1992. After his passing in 2001, Payne moved to Lehigh Acres to be closer to her family.

Payne first published her children’s book “The Magic Piano” in 2019, a story focused on a family of mice who came into a house during the winter to have a warm place to sleep, taking up residence in the piano. The idea for this first book came in a dream, Payne said, complete with the names of the mice, the maple tree, cheese factory, and house that all appear in the book.

Her second children’s book “Will You Be My Friend?” was published in 2023, focusing on a turtle looking for friends he can keep up with, and her third “Lost and Found” was just published last December, telling the story of a baby monkey named Itty, lost in a storm and looking for his mother.

Payne described the publishing process for all three of her books as “unusual”, because she worked with a local publishing company in Pennsylvania, and got to work closely with the illustrator for all three. Payne added that the illustrator first draws each picture in the book and then paints them with acrylic paint, which she said she thought was neat.

“They’re just neat stories, and they all have morals,” Payne said. “In ‘The Magic Piano’ a family of mice when they get cold because of the winter move into the house and live in this piano, and when the people go to bed the mice run up and down the keys and make music, so the people think it’s magic. When the weather warms up again they go back outside and the people don’t understand why it doesn’t play anymore. There’s a lot of family focused ideas in that one.”

Payne’s second book, “Will You Be My Friend?” focuses on a turtle who does not have anyone to play with because he is slow so he cannot keep up with some of the other animals like the squirrels and the frogs and the rabbits. Eventually, he finds a friend in a snail and they go for a walk slowly together.. Payne said this book also includes an animal quiz in the middle along with some facts about snails.

In “Lost and Found”, Itty the baby monkey rides on his mom’s back through the jungle, and gets separated from her one day when she leaves him with a friend and he gets blown away by a storm. He gets to where he does not know where he is and is helped to find his way home by a giraffe, elephant and deer.

“So he gets to make some new friends, and though he is a baby monkey, only one year old, he goes through one of the hardest things in his life, and learns there is no place like home,” Payne said.

While Payne has had other ideas for potential books, she said it is unlikely that she will write anymore, as she is now 92 years old and publishing can get expensive.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to do it for these three books,” Payne said.

While “The Magic Piano” is no longer in print, both “Will You Be My Friend?” and “Lost and Found” are currently available on Amazon. A music video connected to “The Magic Piano” can also be found on YouTube by searching “The Magic Piano by Ruth S Payne”.