Rollie loves adventures and using his imagination. He has taken “A Cool Journey to Space” and he “Loves Construction.” And Rollie—the eponymous main character in a new children’s book series—came to life right here in Malibu.
Rollie is the creation of Monte Nido resident Jason Rouse and his longtime friend, artist and musician Colin Giles.
“The moment that Rollie was penned onto paper, we both knew that he was something bigger,” Giles said in a recent interview with The Malibu Times. “There was so much personality with Rollie, and he and his friends have a lot of imaginative adventures and stories to tell. The book series was then born, which became our main focus, along with the music and animation, and now here we are, rolling with it.”
The book series, which came together during the ongoing novel coronavirus quarantine, was largely inspired by Rouse’s young boys, including three-year-old Benny Rouse, and is now on sale at Toy Crazy in the Malibu Village Shopping Center.
“Working on this has been really something enjoyable during this rather crazy time. Everyone stuck at home so why not put our heads together and get creative?” the older Rouse said.
“We have found our silver lining during this time where the country has been locked down, by getting creative, having fun and making awesome stuff for kids,” Giles agreed. “We’ve been able to dedicate some good time into this, where normally it is a bit more difficult. It’s a good time to bring a bit of joy to kids and parents as well.”
Alongside the books, Rouse and Giles have collaborated on music, animation and a small apparel line, all focused on Rollie.
“It will be an ongoing series, and we are about to release book number three,” Jason Rouse said. “We are also working on creating more animations around the stories and have developed more characters and longer episodic storylines that will make for a really great animated series.”
So far, the books have impressed Benny.
“”The construction book is about diggers and cement,” Benny Rouse explained, adding, “The bucket is my favorite part because it digs!”
