Award-Winning ‘Prune’ : Children’s Book With a Wrinkle

Once upon a time a little boy grew up on a fruit farm in Walla Walla, Wash., where his family raised plums for prunes. The boy grew up to write a book about a talking prune.

The book “Prune” (for ages 8 and up), with its unlikely fruity hero, is the first work of fiction by San Diego State University professor Ramon Royal Ross, who did grow up on that farm in Washington and was recently given an award from the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People for “a notable work of fiction.” (He also wrote “Storyteller,” a nonfiction book now out of print.)

The award was presented to Ross because, according to a letter from Sonia Anderson, awards committee chairman, his is a “finely crafted novel with strong characterization, vivid settings and a timeless sensitive plot.” Anderson also referred to the book as one of “dignity, friendliness and kindness.”

Previous winners have included other San Diego area writers such as Carol Brink, Scott O’Dell and Marguerite Henry.

“It’s wonderful, just to be in the company of some of these writers, “ Ross said.

The best days in the whole world are those that come to the Walla Walla Valley near the end of August. The Horse Heaven Hills are the color of burnished brass, the ripe wheat shimmering under the hot sun ... Ross, 55, has lots of experience in children’s literature. A teacher for 24 years, one of the classes he teaches at SDSU is in children’s literature. He also teaches related subjects such as reader’s theater and storytelling.

Storytelling has woven through the author’s life in several ways. He used to volunteer at various San Diego schools to tell stories to children (and show them his handcrafted toys), and he is on the editorial board of the journal of the National Assn. of Storytelling.

And Prune himself tells a story or two in his latest book.

A wooden rocking horse in Ross’ La Mesa home stands near a piano with open sheet music--ready to be played. A reddish-toned dog named Shaina (Hebrew for beautiful one) walks in and out, beating time with her tail, as daughter Lauren, 4 1/2, comes in with a plea for him to help her build a bridge (Ross also has three grown daughters--the oldest is 29). Nearby is a two-story wooden doll house, complete with a pink door, individually split cedar shingles, and hardwood floors--all handmade by Ross for his youngest daughter.

When Ross and his wife, Pam, travel with Lauren, they often entertain her with stories. “It’s lonely for her, just being with adults,” he said, “so if I read her ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ for example, we act it out. I become the Scarecrow, and Pam becomes the Wicked Witch!”

He hasn’t read “Prune” to Lauren yet. “Often children are read stories before they are really old enough for them,” he said.

The idea for “Prune” actually was born on a trip, Ross said. He and his wife were in a hotel room one night, and she was feeling a little blue. “I said--’Well, I’ll tell you a story.’ And I just started out, ‘Once there was a prune, and he fell in love with a raspberry . . . . ‘ Well, it charmed us for awhile. Later I decided to write it down, thinking it would be a 10- to 20-page story, and then all the other stuff came out.”

“The other stuff” is that the story is about not only Prune, but also a muskrat and a magpie named Pica. It is described in the School Library Journal, December, 1984, as “a story of friendship, love, and the continuity of life . . . a fine mixture of humor and sadness.”

Muskrat laughed. He felt filled with relief. True, they were a long way from home and even, perhaps, in danger. But for now, there was water, and the damp odor of moss, and Prune by his side. “I’m proud of the book,” Ross said, “but it’s just a work that’s come out. I have a lot of things to do--gardening (he has landscaped and terraced a garden area in back of their home), my teaching--and of course, building bridges for Lauren.” Ross also loves to cook and camp and is interested in the restoration of old homes.

Because writing is only one of his interests, “I’m always surprised when someone calls me a writer.”

Ross has been a guest at school-sponsored authors’ fairs in Southern California and will visit several more this spring, including ones for schools in Long Beach and San Diego. In addition, he will speak to the Los Angeles City librarians. “The first question children always ask in relation to a book,” he said, laughing, is, ‘How much did you make?’ ”

Ross’ childhood provided a rich soil from which his current interests have grown. “I had a good time in my childhood,” he said. “We lived on a farm, but never saw our lives as poor. We (he has a brother and two sisters) had music lessons from 5 years old on--with the alarm clock on the piano for practicing every day.

“We made things--islands and houses in the creek--bows and arrows, forts--we were always building forts out by the walnut tree--stores, model airplanes. We had trips to the library every weekend. And my father was an amateur painter. He did beautiful landscapes, and he even made a tractor once from old car and truck parts, because we really needed a tractor. He also made trailers--and once a four-poster bed. The life of the imagination was fostered in our family.”

With a lunge, Pica left her sheltered nook and sailed out through the open hayloft, where the wind picked her up and scooted her this way and that. She headed back toward the creek to see if she could spot the two wanderers but they were gone. Although Ross says the book is not autobiographical, he noted, “Every person (or prune) you write about has you in it. The territory is genuine--the trees, flowers, animals.”

Since the book’s release in 1984 (Atheneum, New York), Ross said, “Every once in awhile a letter will come from a little kid--and also I receive letters from adults now and then.

“Adults often read kids’ books. They appeal to something in us. They are an escape--a way to get back into childhood.

“If there is anything difficult about writing a book, it is that people say, ‘When are you going to write the next book?’ ”

Ross believes there is a time in life for all things to be done, and although he is well into another book, he finds his other interests call to him as much as the new book.

Ross feels excited about children’s literature in general: “It seems to me kids’ books are going in every direction possible.” Mentioning the trend toward real-life problem-solving books, he said, “There are lots of books where things don’t turn out OK. There are also picture books, which are just beautiful. Kids are not getting second-class books at all, but it’s up to parents to choose the good ones from all the books available.”

Ross suggests reading the classics to young children: “Andrew Lang’s collection of fairy tales are good starters.” He likes the idea of collecting stories from other lands and retelling them to children. Diane Wolkstein’s “The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales” is another example of such a book, he added.

The main ingredient in children’s literature, Ross said, is a basic honesty on the part of the author. “It’s as if that author truly believes (what he or she is writing). It’s not as if the writer is fabricating.

“An editor I know said a really good children’s book is like an iceberg--the story that you first see is there, but it can be returned to and read with different levels of meaning and enrichment. That is the magic--that we think it is this --and we find it is that as well.”

“I was floating down the ditch again. It was twilight, with just such a sky as now. The two of you were near me, and I could hear your voices ... .” (All excerpts from “Prune.”)