BEA Spotlight Shines on Tim Ostermeyer and the Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox

Tim Ostermeyer knows the hard work that goes into crafting an award-winning product. Tim is a Master Photographer whose wildlife photography has earned him 250 (!) First Place awards, and Photographer of the Year by various organizations.

Transforming those images into a story for children, in many ways is an extension of the art Tim knows and loves. As you'll see in our interview, he relishes the opportunity to combine art, story, and life lessons for kids, into books that everyone can enjoy.

Please welcome Tim Ostermeyer to the stage.



MCA: Hi Tim, and welcome to the Mom's Choice Awards® spotlight! Can you please tell us about what motivated you to write The Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox?
Tim: There are many wonderful painted illustrated children books, but not many photographic children books. I decided to write fiction books for children with real photographs of the cutest baby animals on earth.  But at the same time, I wanted to add nonfiction facts to the story so children could also learn. Ultimately, I have created books that weave a traditional picture book with facts and a story that has some Spiritual or moral depth.  For Rusty and Ginger, the theme is sharing.

MCA: Now that you have an award-winning product, what are your goals for the next year?
Tim: I would like the children to a) See how beautiful God's creation of the baby foxes are, b) See other beautiful wildlife animals in the forest, c) Learn 70 facts of the wildlife animals, and d) Learn the moral message of the book which is "sharing".

I also have three more books that just came back from the printers. If you thought the fox pups were cute, wait until you see the baby penguins, baby polar bears, and baby tigers! Like Rusty and Ginger Fox, each of these stories has a message. In the tiger book the theme is on bullying; the baby polar bear story is about going for your dreams; and the baby penguin has a message about exploring.

MCA: Please name three ways your Mom's Choice Award® will help you attain your goals.
Tim: Mom's Choice is a wonderful award that gives my book optimal exposure. When people see the Mom's Choice Award sticker on the book, they have confidence that what they are seeing is a great book. The award also opens the door to get into national magazines and introduce my books to the thousands of people who are subscribers, pick up a magazine in the doctor's office, or even in the grocery checkout line!

Last but not least, it offers a great way to promote the book by word of mouth to tell other people that the book won a special award like the Mom's Choice award.I am very blessed to have won a Mom's Choice Award.

MCA: Can you share with us what you learned about yourself as an artist/writer/entrepreneur in creating your award-winning product?
Tim: It was a big leap to go after my dreams and passion with these four books in the Fun Adventures Wildlife Series. I am an engineer by training and experience, and have decided to leave my engineering job to properly market, share, read, and sign these books.

MCA: Since launching your book, what has been your most rewarding experience in promoting or sharing it with the public? Do you have a favorite memory?
Tim: One little boy asked in a recent school reading, when the animals were talking to you, did you write it down? He thought that the animals gave me the dialogue for the book.

I first made a photographic album that won "Best of Show" in the 2007 Southwest Professional Photography Contest (beating 850 other entries). I ordered 1000 copies of this album/book and sold them to family and friends, as well as conferences I where I was a speaker. In talking about the book with publishers, I learned about how different a children's book is from a "coffee table book." For example, 80 pages was too long for a children book, and covers attract more reader when there is a single image, not three.

MCA: As a new honoree, do you have any questions you'd like some of the "old hands" to answer for you?
Tim: What is the best way to leverage the Mom's Choice Award® to help promote and market my book?

Thanks for stopping by, Tim ... and congratulations again on your award. We're glad to have you, Ginger, and Rusty as part of our Mom's Choice Awards® family.

Mom's Choice Awards® Honors


The Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox
(Fun Adventure Wildlife Books)
by Tim Ostermeyer
photography by Tim Ostermeyer
(Synergy Books, 2010)

2011 - Silver
Children's Picture Book, Animal Kingdom

Contact, Connect and Network with Tim Ostermeyer


If you're heading to BookExpo America, be sure to stop by to meet Tim and get an autographed copy of Snowball's Antarctic Adventure. Tim will be in the Autographing Corral  (Table 26)Tuesday, 24 May 2011, from 11:30am until 2:00pm.
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The Alumni Spotlight is a periodic feature on the official Mom’s Choice Awards® blog. It is part of our ongoing effort to “shine the spotlight” on you and your award-winning, family-friendly products, services, and media.