Ooli & Tooli are my childhood imaginary pet kittens. They have been household names in our family for as long as I can remember. Today, they are the protagonists in my children’s book, Let It Roll, teaching children about pedestrian safety.
This book is an ode to my father, who created the characters of Ooli and Tooli many years ago. Back then, children’s books were not as prevalent or affordable as they are today. So, bedtime stories were improvisational tales about anything and everything.
In our family, these stories were about two mischievous kittens who were the source of everlasting worries for their parents.The kittens got into all sorts of trouble, but there was always a happy ending. Eventually, many living, breathing kittens would join our family and take their place and names.
In Let It Roll, the kittens face an all too familiar scenario. One which requires a split-second decision that can be life-changing. Where traffic safety is concerned, the choice between ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ cannot, and should not, be intuitive. Knowing how to engage with and behave in traffic is a learned process—one that is built from the ground up and should carefully consider the child’s age and maturity.
But how and when to start? Who should teach and implement it? How much is too little or too much? And what kind of role modeling do we, as adults, manifest when it comes to pedestrian and traffic safety?
