Reid Genauer is a well-known musician, best known as the frontman for Strangefolk and Assembly of Dust, and a tech executive. He can now add children’s author to his résumé.
Jeffrey’s Jungle, as the book is titled, is Genauer’s first foray into writing books. The book, illustrated by Genauer’s friend Alan Close, is a playful, 24-page children’s book aimed at ages 4 to 9. The story chronicles a young boy, Jeffrey, and his imagination as he’s left at home while his mom runs some errands. The curious boy cranks up the heat in the house, sprouting a jungle throughout the home, waterfalls and all.
Genauer was inspired to write poetry when he was 10 after reading Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. As he moved towards songwriting, he drew inspiration from Jerry Garcia’s longtime songwriting partner, lyricist Robert Hunter. Genauer’s style is often compared to that of Hunter, Steely Dan or Neil Young. His writing style, which will feel very familiar to those who love his music, is very lyrical and bouncy.
Bill Nershi of String Cheese Incident is quoted in the press release:
Reid’s a great song writer. He has a natural approach to a song that is artful, lyrically acrobatic and accessible. He and I have always bonded about the role of song craft in the sea of musical improvisation. Writing a children’s book is a natural extension of what he does best. Not surprisingly his book comes off as mischievous and fun loving as he is.
In addition to writing Jeffrey’s Jungle, Genauer has written more than 100 children’s poems and plans to publish a series of books over the years to come. Jeffrey’s Jungle is available now on Amazon.com.
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