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The moon has been stolen, but 6-year-old Marisol and her father, local author and UNM operations specialist Alex Paramo, are here to save the day.
Published in April, “Princess Marisol and the Moon Thieves” is an interactive children’s e-book, which follows the princess and her otter sidekick on a journey around the world as they search for two mischievous musicians who have stolen the moon. As readers goes through the book, they have the option of playing the narration and musical accompaniment for each page or reading it by themselves.
Readers can also scroll over certain words and read the definition for each word.
“By publishing a multimedia e-book, I hope to give each reader the ‘wow’ effect. There is great music, a soothing narrator and a multisensory effect overall,” Paramo said.
The 25-page book is the combined result of several artists from various different cities. Paramo originates from New York. Illustrator Audrey MacNamara-Garcia does all of her work from the boardwalk of Venice Beach, Fla. Music for the book was directed by a friend of Paramo’s out of Los Angeles, Matias Pizarro.
“Once Audrey’s illustrations and the story were put together on slides, Alex sent them to me and we designed the music around that. We wanted something well suited to children, but electronic and cutting edge. Like Nine Inch Nails, but cuter,” Pizarro said.
The last step was to add the narrations. Local singer Jackie Zamora narrated the book, in English and Spanish. Paramo’s daughter Marisol, the inspiration for the tale, voiced her own character and Zamora’s daughter voiced the playful otter Alessa. Paramo said he hopes to translate and narrate the book into several more languages, including Navajo and French.
Community Publishing Company, founded by Paramo and his partner Yvette Sandoval, published the book. The company focuses on “bringing artists of all media together in collaborative projects for e-publishing,” according to communitypublishingabq.wordpress.com.
Paramo, a UNM graduate in history and anthropology, said cultural awareness will take society a long way.
“Bringing multisensoral, multicultural learning to children Marisol’s age is what will encourage cultural understanding which, in turn, will promote acceptance,” he said.
Paramo said his goal in creating this book was not only to publish an interactive, multiculturally accepting book for children, but to have children involved in the process.
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Marisol was involved in publishing the book from beginning to end, Paramo said. She inspired the story, voiced her own character, and even helped pick out the colors for the illustrations. Marisol loved the process so much she’s decided to become an author herself.
“Remember, I’m writing my own book now,” she said.
Princess Marisol and the Moon Thieves can be purchased at princessmarisolandthemoonthieves.com and can be read on most devices, including iPad, Kindle and Nook.
Paramo said Princess Marisol will appear in three multimedia e-books, the second in the series, “Princess Marisol and the Portal” is scheduled for release in April. The release date for Marisol’s untitled debut book is not yet available.
