‘Don’t be afraid of the dark,’ says local author in new book series

Acorn Staff Writer


LISA ADAMS/The Acorn  DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK--WillowBe Woods co-creators Bill Wallen and his daughter Ila get a hug from

LISA ADAMS/The Acorn DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK–WillowBe Woods co-creators Bill Wallen and his daughter Ila get a hug from “Will,” the bear cub, from the book “The Moon in My Room.” The all-new children’s book is the first in a series of campfire stories. A book signing is set for Sept. 22 at Borders in T.O.

‘Don’t be afraid of the dark,’ says local author

in new book series

Growing up in a family that cherished the art of storytelling gave Agoura Hills resident Ila Wallen plenty of material for her new series of books entitled, "WillowBe Woods."


Ila, who will present the first in the series––"The Moon In My Room"–at Borders Books in Thousand Oaks on Sat., Sept 22, says that series is meant to help children find their own solutions to their problems.


"The Moon in My Room" tells the story of young Will, a bear cub, who has a fear of the dark. After seeking advice from his woodland friends, Will comes to the realization that only he can find the solution to his fear.


Each night the animals of WillowBe Woods gather around the campfire at Bent Willow, where Papa Rango entertains Will, Bandit, Flynn, Sophie, Bunny and others with tales from his storybook. They are stories populated with the amusing and exciting characters that live and play in WillowBe Woods.


Ila’s books deal with many of the same issues she said she encountered as a child. When she was growing up, her father was the art director for such movies as "Jaws." She became fearful of sharks, and of the dark, because of the movie posters hanging in her house.


She believed she had to wear socks to keep sharks from biting her in the dark. Ila says childhood fears such as these are what helped inspire her to write a story about being afraid of the dark.


The idea for Willowbe Woods wasn’t solely Ila’s. She co-created the series with her father, Bill Wallen.


"Storytelling was always celebrated in my house growing up," Bill said. " I carried on the tradition with my own family."


Ila says her father would often use story telling as a way of getting her and her brothers to talk about their problems without them really even knowing it. When they made up stories together, it was a way of helping his kids come up with solutions to their problems.


After college, Ila moved back home with her folks, and began to commute to Culver City daily with her father where they both worked; Bill for Sony, and Ila for Columbia Tri-Star. Driving in Topanga Canyon together, the father/daughter duo reminisced about the stories they use to share, and slowly the ideas transformed themselves into the world of WillowBe Woods.


Ila started writing down ideas, and Bill started drawing characters. Their ideas and plans soon began to take over various rooms of their house.


They recruited Ila’s brother, Michael, to help with the art, and soon they had taken over the dining room and spare rooms. Before long the ideas for WillowBe Woods invaded the den and living room. Both Ila and Bill kept their day jobs, and worked on WillowBe Woods at night.


Eventually the two decided to pursue it full time as they teamed up with Patrick Davidson, an independent producer from the Disney Channel. In early 1998, they quit their day jobs and moved into their first office space in Westlake Village.


They began doing freelance work to keep them afloat with the goal that all the money they made would help them produce their first in the series of WillowBe Woods books. So far Ila has finished the first two books in the series of six, and is now working on a third. Each book will be followed by its own video and CD, according to Bill.


Ila says her goal for the WillowBe Woods culture, which is geared toward children from pre-K to third grade, is that it will touch the hearts of children and teach them about finding their own solutions.


"If just one child says ‘I can be just like Will and find my own answers,’ I’ll have achieved my goal." Ila said.


Ila will read "The Moon in My Room" at the Borders Bookstore in Thousand Oaks at 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22, at a special Pajama Mania event.


In addition to the performance-reading, the Borders/WillowBe Woods Pajama Mania event will feature free WillowBe Woods character stickers, as well as photographs with "Will the Bear Cub," and the star of "The Moon in My Room." As the title of the event suggests, children, and their parents, are in invited to wear their pajamas to the Pajama Mania event.


Borders Books is at 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks.




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