About the Authors
If someone asked you to write a story about a pirate, what would you think about? Would you write about chocolate pirate ship cookies? Sea turtles? The importance of family bonds? The water cycle? Probably not, but Laura and Robert Sams did.
Laura and Robert Sams are a sister/brother creative duo who wrote the story for A Pirate’s Quest. They based the story on The Peg Leg Song, which they composed for their movie The Riddle in a Bottle. “I was trying to think of a creative way to re-cap the themes in our movie of currents, tides, weather and moving water,” Laura said, “and suddenly I thought it would be funny to have a pirate following the water to find a lost peg leg. Rob said the peg leg should be a family heirloom.”
Laura and Robert worked with Heiner to create a basic sketch for each page. Then Laura photographed Robert (dressed like the pirate) to match the sketch. Heiner used the photograph as a reference to create the final painting.
"Even though the story is about a pirate, we worked really hard to accurately represent animals in various ecosystems in the book," Robert said. "The idea was to make a book that was so fun to read that people wouldn't even realize they were learning about animals -- from where they live, to what animals might be seen in fresh water versus salt water, and coastline versus open ocean."
Laura and Robert Sams own Sisbro Studios, which creates wildlife films, books, music and educational media that help children of all ages learn about nature (and laugh along the way). Their movies have been shown on PBS, and they have won a prestigious Wildscreen Panda Award (like the Oscars for wildlife filmmaking). They enjoy sharing their talents in live shows, performing in venues like the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to the Chicago Field Museum to hundreds of schools and libraries across the United States. Laura has a Master’s degree in Natural Resources Education and degrees in Zoology and Parks and Recreation. Robert has degrees in Zoology and Communication.
They invite all ye scallywags to learn more about them at www.sisbro.com if you dare! If you search their site, you'll even find a pie-throwing contest. When you answer questions, Laura or Robert won't walk the plank, but they will throw pies at each other.
