Forestville native Ruth Payne is excited to share her first published book, “The Magic Piano,” a children’s book about the adventures of a family of mice.

Born and raised in Forestville and a resident for nearly 60 years, Ruth S. Payne is pleased to share one of her most exciting projects since retirement: the publication of her first children’s book, “The Magic Piano.” In a phone interview with the OBSERVER, Payne shared her beloved story, as well as her inspiration and her plans now that the book is complete.

For over 20 years, Payne was a familiar face at Forestville Elementary School, where she taught kindergarten and worked as a substitute teacher. In 1992, Payne and her husband retired to Naples, Florida. After his passing in 2001, she moved to Lehigh Acres to be closer to family. Despite the distance, Payne has remained close to her Forestville friends, one of whom encouraged her to pursue her book idea.

“On the night of June 30, 2015, I was given a dream,” Payne explained of her inspiration. “It had to be given by the Lord because I have weird dreams! It was a complete story, and the characters even had names. I wrote it down as soon as I woke up in the morning.”

Payne said the story follows a family of mice and their lives in a big tree over the course of four seasons. When winter arrives, the family packs their bags and moves inside a nearby house, which has a piano. The mice family decide that the piano would make a cozy winter home; when the human family goes to bed, the mice become active, running along the strings of the piano.

When spring comes, the mice family returns to their tree, and in the last scene of the book, the human family is standing next to their piano. “They don’t understand why the piano isn’t magical anymore,” Payne said. “But we know!”

Shortly after her dream, Payne reached out to her Forestville friend, Mary Jo Fleming.

“I told her all about it,” said Payne. “Mary Jo told me that I better do something about it! My daughter-in-law had seen an ad for Christian Faith Publishing out of Meadville, Pennsylvania. She contacted them, and they sent the material.”

After reading through the publisher’s information, Payne submitted her story. “They accepted it, and I signed the agreement in January 2018. The book came out in March of this year,” Payne explained.

“The Magic Piano” is Payne’s first book, and the process was a great learning experience about the publishing process. Payne explained that shortly after her book was accepted, she was assigned a publishing specialist, who worked with her over the course of a year to edit and design the book.

Speaking of the cover design, Payne said, “I got eight or nine illustrations from an artist, and I picked the one I liked best. I worked with the illustrator for five months to get what I wanted. It was tough because I wanted to see what I had see in the dream!”

The finished edition is a 10-by-12-inch, 24-page book that includes 12 illustrated pages opposite 12 pages of text. “After the third try, the company understood that I wanted it printed so that kids could learn to read it from the letters they were learning in kindergarten,” she explained. The target audience of the book is children ages 5 to 8, although older children and adults can enjoy reading it to a younger audience.

Payne is pleased that the publisher, who distributes world-wide, recently sent out a press release to more than 3,000 outlets. The book is currently available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle formats on amazon.com, and is also available to purchase on Barnes and Noble’s website.

“My family is so excited,” said Payne. “They’re getting it and sharing with their friends! I have 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. My daughter and I went to Tennessee to see my son’s family and his kids in May. I signed lots of books for them at their house — it was wonderful!”

Payne’s church, which livestreams their services, is also excited about the book. “The pastor asked me to come up one day and talk about my book,” she told the OBSERVER. “Last Sunday, there was a lady at church visiting from Oklahoma. I asked her how she knew about the book, and she had seen it through the livestream! I had worldwide advertising, right from church!”

Payne is looking forward to visiting her local library during story hour to share her book and provide the library with a copy. Her granddaughter is hoping that Payne will read the book to her kindergarten class, too. “It’s about the closeness of the family and their lives together,” Payne said of her beloved characters. “The book celebrates how they enjoy each other and their adventure!”

Now, Payne is looking forward to getting her certificate from the Library of Congress, which recognizes her book with an ISBN number. She has plans for another children’s book about a young boy named Philip who has a shiny red wagon containing seven items that mean something special to each person he meets. To learn more about Payne’s new book, watch the promotional video on Youtube.com: “The Magic Piano by Ruth S. Payne.”