Meet RoRo!

My RoRo admiring the RORO’S PARIS artwork

RoRo is the main character of RORO’S PARIS, but he’s also my 5-year-old son. My RoRo (real name Rowan) inspired the cheeky, curious boy who explores Paris.

Book RoRo is similar to my RoRo in many ways. Both can be inpatient. They can be very hesitant about trying new foods. But most of all, they both love a good adventure.

I requested certain things from the illustrator to give book RoRo a more personal touch. The shirt he wears throughout the book is green since that’s Rowan’s favorite color. He has fun, crazy dance moves, which are reflected in a scene where he listens to a Métro station musician. The stuffed panda that appears throughout the book is just like the one Rowan travels with.

I had one non-negotiable requirement: RoRo needed to be Asian.

RoRo’s Asianness isn’t ever explicitly pointed out in the book, and that was intentional. The heart of the story is about a young boy experiencing a new city and culture for the first time. RoRo could actually be any kid of any race or ethnicity. However, I wanted to ensure he was illustrated as an Asian boy, and that was for a couple of reasons.

First, I wanted other Asian kids, especially boys, to be able to see themselves in RORO’S PARIS. If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’ve heard of the various studies that find boys being behind girls in reading and not enjoying books as much as girls. I see it with my son, too. He’d much rather be playing outside or with his cars and monster trucks than having us read to him. (He loved books when he was much younger, and I hope he re-discovers that love, especially when he starts reading independently.) When writing RORO’S PARIS, I tried to develop a character that other young boys could relate to, and I wanted to create a book that boys would excitedly reach for from the shelf.

Second, as an Asian-American mom, I sadly haven’t found many English-language picture books that feature an Asian boy as the main character AND that don’t focus on something particularly Asian (like a holiday, a name, or physical features). I think those books are fantastic and informative, and they’re definitely needed, but my own kiddo isn’t really interested in reading about those topics. That’s why I wanted to create a book that featured an Asian boy doing something that any other kid, regardless of race, would do.

While I think it’s great to highlight our differences as Asians and how they make us great and unique, we should also remember that in many ways, we’re like everyone else. RoRo isn’t some exotic kid just because he’s Asian. Like many other little boys, he loves cars, superheroes, and dinosaurs. When he travels, he gets excited about playgrounds, subway rides, and McDonald’s in new cities. That’s why I think it’s important for children’s books to show kids of different races and ethnicities doing things any other kid would be doing, and that’s why I wrote RORO’S PARIS the way that I did.