About the Publisher
Imagine you had self-published three best-selling children's books based on your own award-winning wildlife photography. What would be the topic of your next project? If you said "Pirates," then your name is probably Carl R. Sams II or Jean Stoick.
Carl and Jean are the publishers of A Pirate’s Quest, but they are first and foremost wildlife photographers. This husband/wife team is known for their beautiful photographs of North American animals, especially the white-tailed deer. They spent over twenty years photographing the same family of deer near their home in Michigan. They used their photography as the inspiration to write and self-publish three New York Times best-selling children’s books: Stranger in the Woods, Lost in the Woods and First Snow in the Woods. All three books share gentle lessons about nature and intimate photographs of animals throughout the seasons.
Why did they decide to publish A Pirates Quest, a book they neither wrote nor illustrated? It's simple - they loved the project. Carl Sams and Jean Stoick are great friends with the illustrator Heiner Hertling and have long respected his artistic talents. Also, they are cousins of the authors Laura Sams and Robert Sams and have collaborated with them on their previous children's books and videos. And most importantly, they decided A Pirate’s Quest would accomplish the same task as their other books – teach gentle lessons of nature through a great story and world class art.
Carl and Jean did provide several photographs that Heiner used as references for the book’s paintings.
“I love how the book shows different animals that live in different water-related ecosystems,” Carl said. “I also like the pirate’s never give up attitude. It’s a reminder that we should never give up.”
Carl R Sams II and Jean Stoick currently live in Milford, Michigan. They also love to spend time at their house in the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s upper pensinsula. Learn more about them at www.carlsams.com or www.strangerinthewoods.com.
