The Golden Chain of Reading: Robert D. San Souci

Robert San Souci is best known for his retellings of folk tales from around the world. Over the years, he has broadened his work to include stories from world mythology, legends from a variety of cultures, and retellings of classic stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He has also written several books of ghost stories. In many cases, he re-tells familiar stories (such as the King Arthur myths or American tall tales), but he is also dedicated to introducing young readers to less well-known folktales, stories, and legends from around the world. His stories feature different types of protagonists, including many strong, smart girls. In San Souci's words: "I love to take these old stories and bring them alive for a new audience of young readers, often working closely with my illustrators in the process."

Robert San Souci was born in San Francisco, California on October 19, 1946. He was drawn to storytelling and writing from a very young age. He recalls that, as a child, if he heard a story he particularly enjoyed, he would re-formulate it leaving out the parts that were less interesting and enhancing the parts that he found more interesting. He would then go to find a friend or a younger child to whom he could tell the new story. This impulse for storytelling is apparent in many of his books, particularly those drawn from the African American oral tradition like Sukey and the Mermaid or The Talking Eggs. Sukey and the Mermaid reads like a story that has been written down. It includes some of the Gullah dialect from coastal South Carolina and both the opening four lines and the ending four lines give the feeling of a story teller setting up (or ending) her story.

Writing was also an early interest for San Souci, with teachers offering their support and encouragement for his first efforts. In grammar school, he wrote for the school newspaper, moving on to the school yearbook when he reached high school. As a high school sophomore, San Souci was particularly excited to have an essay published in a book called T.V. as Art. He went on to study creative writing, English literature, and world literature at St. Mary's College of California, receiving a B.A. in 1968. He continued his studies in graduate school at California University at Hayward with the goal of focusing more on folklore, mythology, and stories from world religions, an interest that continues to inspire him. Before having his first book accepted for publication, he worked at various jobs in the book industry including book buyer, copy writer, bookstore department manager, and book editor. During this time, he also wrote articles for newpapers and magazines as well as book and theater reviews with the goal of getting as much of his work in print as possible.

Robert San Souci's first published children's book, The Legend of Scarface, was a collaborative effort with his brother Daniel who created the illustrations (and who incidentally shares Robert's birthday, albeit 10 years later). The story was drawn from the oral tradition of the Blackfeet tribe whose territory is in northern Montana and across the border in Canada. The Legend of Scarface was named Best Illustrated Book of the Year in 1978 by the New York Times. It was also named a Notable Children's Trade Book. With this superb start, San Souci was on his way.

As the book list below shows, San Souci has worked with many different illustrators during his career. His priority with illustrations is not only bringing the story to life, but allowing the story and the historically accurate illustrations to "open a window on other times, places, ways of living and looking at the world." As he researches the story he is writing, San Souci also collects copies of photographs and pictures of unusual items that could be included in the illustrations to help place the story in its cultural and historic context. He elaborates "I've delightedly supplied artists with pictures of Japanese cricket cages, California Miwok burden baskets, a deadly Caribbean snake, or what-have-you."

San Souci's talent for retelling stories, his meticulous research, and his illustrator's skill in choosing the scenes and details to capture, all work together to make folklore from around the world accessible to young readers (and listeners). He continues to identify stories that need to be told and states "I plan to keep on writing until I run out of ideas or until people lose a love of hearing and reading and sharing stories." As a reader, I have enjoyed every one of Robert San Souci's retellings that I have read, and I particularly look forward to reading new stories from him that "open a window" to another world.

Picture Books