Children’s author reads tales on her weekly AM radio show

Sally Squires loves to tell a good bedtime story.

Every Tuesday evening she reads some of her stories on KPRP 650 AM, a multicultural radio station owned by Pinoy Power Media at Fort Street Mall.

The self-published author of several children’s books is hoping to inspire listeners to use their imagination with her stories about a lion that can breathe underwater, Lucy the mouse at the opera house, and mermaids who care for the ocean.

Squires, originally from Australia, wrote her own stories for her two children while they were growing up, and encouraged them to imagine their own tales as well. But she began making up her own stories when she was a child, growing up reading books by English author Enid Blyton.

Today’s kids, she says, are losing touch with the magic of storybook imagination.

"From the time of 18 months, they’re pushing buttons on electronic things," she said. "So much entertainment for kids nowadays is preprogrammed. There’s no encouragement for them to use their imagination, and that’s very sad."

Her books, which include "The Story Tree," "Nick Nock Nack," "Micetralia" and "Mermaids Are Cool," are geared toward children in sixth to eighth grade and do not, as of yet, have any illustrations.

But they are meant to be read aloud to children of any age.

Squires herself declined to give her age, saying she did not like being labeled.

"I’m 17. I turn 17 every year, and I don’t intend to grow up," she said.

She finds inspiration for her stories everywhere.

"Micetralia," for instance, was inspired by an encounter with a little mouse that stood on its hind legs and looked at her while she was watching TV at home in Australia.

The mermaids book came to her after she saw the ocean-themed decorations on the Christmas tree at Honolulu Hale, which helped her create characters like Calamungus Crab and Octarina Octopus. The book’s message is about taking care of the ocean.

Each Tuesday, Squires reads 10 to 12 poems and stories, inviting children to send in their creations for her to read on air.

"I want to encourage them, as well, to write their own stories," she said.

Squires, formerly a journalist in Australia, has also written adult fiction books and a guide to Australian slang called "G’Day Mate." She lived in New York for 12 years and a year in Vietnam before moving to Hawaii five years ago.