Lynne Roberto Shares the Heart and Imagination Behind Her Beloved Stories for Children
PHOTO: Lynne Roberto, weaving childhood wonder and heartfelt life lessons into stories that inspire and comfort young readers across generations.
A Journey of Creativity, Resilience, and Timeless Storytelling
Lynne Roberto discusses how her imaginative childhood shaped her storytelling, the inspirations behind her beloved characters, and her heartfelt mission to help children navigate emotions through magical, meaningful stories.
Lynne Roberto enchants readers with a rare and heartfelt gift: the ability to see the world through a child’s eyes while speaking to the deepest corners of the human heart. Her books, including the tender Grandma Forgets: But I Remember and the beloved Jack the Bear series, are rich with emotion, imagination, and timeless life lessons. Drawing from a childhood immersed in creativity and wonder, Roberto infuses her stories with vibrant characters, deep empathy, and a profound understanding of resilience and hope.
Her storytelling transcends age, offering young readers and their families stories that not only delight but also gently guide them through life’s challenges. Through memorable characters like Jack, Scarlet, George, and Oliver, Roberto reminds us that friendship, courage, and joy endure, even in the face of loss and uncertainty. It is a pleasure and a privilege to share our conversation with Lynne Roberto, an artist whose words and imagination continue to brighten the literary world.
Lynne Roberto crafts unforgettable stories filled with heart, creativity, and compassion, touching young readers and families with every beautiful page.
How did growing up surrounded by your parents’ toymaking creativity influence your approach to storytelling?
Growing up, I was taught to think creatively or “out of the box”. I was hardly ever told “No, you can’t do that” and usually told “Let’s figure out how to do that”, or “How can you make that work?” It made it easy to see possibilities in everything I did
As far as storytelling, my folks encouraged all my wild tales. They were happy and engaged to hear what my dolls and animals were doing from the age of three on. At that age I had a doll that traveled to Europe and Cuba and had adventures. He was very much alive in my imagination. I just knew my toys had an active life when we weren’t looking, and I told everyone about it. I continued though the school years and wrote a space age novel when I was in 6-7th grade. My parents loved reading every new chapter and kept encouraging me to do more and more.
What inspired you to create the character of Mia in “Grandma Forgets: But I Remember”?
My sister asked me to create this story for children dealing with an aging member of their family suffering with memory loss. Mia became part me, part my sister as we were the main caregivers of our aged parents and grandparents. I wanted the story to be from a child’s view. Several of the stories in the book come from our real-life situations in dealing with early onset dementia and rapidly aging parents and grandparents. I wanted this story to ease the way for children to understand that memory loss doesn’t mean that love is lost.
“Growing up, I was taught to think creatively or ‘out of the box.'” — Lynne Roberto
In the Jack the Bear series, each toy seems to have a distinct personality—how do you develop these unique traits for each character?
Jack was a strong character to begin with and is apparent right off in the story when he chooses his child. He is a real stuffed animal, purchased after my mom died as a comfort to the grown-up child. I did talk to him in my grief and from that comfort I started thinking about how special stuffed animals help us with emotions and imagination. It was easy to have Jack develop friendships with other animals as I had always known they have lives of their own. Scarlet is the shy one, based on some of my fears of not being liked, or not being valued for your personality. She finds one friend and builds her confidence and begin to shine with the other toys after which she discovers they are all alike. George is the insecure bear- fearful of looking different. He turns to his friends, and they help him appreciate his individuality. He discovers that friendship is even more important than appearances. Oliver is a survivor. I wanted to impress children that even with the loss of people important to you and devastating situations, that there is a way forward and you can be happy again. I used my childhood feelings as the basis for my characters. I wanted to express that it’s ok to be afraid, to ask for help and to rely on those you trust.
How do your photography/art hobbies influence the scenes and imagery in your books?
In the past 30 years, I have taken thousands of photos. Most I use as inspiration for my paintings. I also review them for my stories. I might look at dolphin pics to think about how they work with Oliver, or harbor scenes, to influence his journey to safety. In Jack the Bear, the dream sequences are right out of my mind, things I would have done with my toys as a child. It’s easy for me to think of a situation and then people it with toys. Then I can use photoshop to bring to life what I see in my head.
“Memory loss doesn’t mean that love is lost.” — Lynne Roberto
What emotions or messages do you hope children take away from “Saving Oliver: The Elephant Who Went to Sea”?
Oliver is a real stuffy I found floating by my boat. I thought there must be a child somewhere missing him. I wrote the story to help children deal with loss and devastation. Oliver loses his family. He ends up in the ocean trying to survive. He asks for help and learns that he will live. Even when the worst happens, I wanted kids to understand that they can be happy again.
How do you balance teaching important life lessons with keeping the stories light and magical for young readers?
I think it’s important to balance the explanations for life lessons with easy-to-understand situations and some magic and comedy. Children need to learn there can be a solution to problems and not be afraid to look for them. To understand that all of us suffer in some way but that we can and do make our way through. I think learning to find the fun in situations can help. It certainly will ease the pain.
“Learning to find the fun in situations can ease the pain.” — Lynne Roberto
What was the most challenging part of writing a series like Jack the Bear compared to writing a standalone book like “A Gremlin Lives Here”
These are stories I told my kids and then wrote. The gremlins were real life children in my house. I just had to document their actions! The Jack the bear books evolved because the kids wanted more. Scarlet really was a beautiful bear with a fabulous hat, and it was easy to think others might be jealous of her. George came from a thrift store so that real event played into the creation of his story.
Can you share a memorable reader response that deeply touched or surprised you?
“Peanut’s 5th birthday was last night and she got a ton of gifts, but all she wanted to do was to crawl in her great grandma’s lap and read the Jack books, and Oliver is her favorite story!”
One of my people doing an audition for the audible version of Jack the Bear read the first chapter to his granddaughter who then insisted he buy the book so she could find out what happened to Jack!
