Explore Forest Park Through the Eyes of A Child In New Book

Reedy Press is pleased to announce the release of our newest local interest book, How Forest Park Was Made, by Ian Sullivan.

Forest Park has grown to be the crown jewel of St. Louis. Can you imagine Forest Park without the Saint Louis Zoo? What about the Art Museum or The Muny or the Jewel Box? Journey through time to see how all your favorite Forest Park destinations first came to be. The book is written so that anyone from ages 1 through 99 will enjoy it.

From the World’s Fair to local wonderland, discover how Forest Park has transformed over two centuries into a dazzling destination of art, history, and science all packed in a single park in St. Louis.

How Forest Park Was Made, by Ian Sullivan, is available wherever books are sold. It is hardcover, 10 x 8.5, 32 pages, and can be purchased for $ 22.50.

A Look Inside

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Who is this book for?

It’s a children’s book; a picture book, so it definitely targets kids anywhere between preschool and 3rd grade. But it’s created with the whole family in mind.
I wanted the rhythm and the aesthetic of the book to be vibrant, colorful… magical was a big word with illustrations that invited the younger kids into the story. But then the historical photography adds this other layer of historical reality to the book. It makes it accessible to an older generation – seeing these old photos outside of wonderful textbooks and seeing them brought to life in this new way, interwoven with these fun little characters and colorful bursts.
Is the book meant to be educational or just a fun read-aloud book celebrating the park?
Yes and yes. Whether kids or parents…I want anyone who’s reading it to see themselves in those moments that are so detached from us. It’s hard to imagine what life was like in 1876. What it meant to be a kid and live in a city where you could escape into nature and read a book or go fishing.
Sometimes history can feel dry and unemotional as a kid – so this became an exercise in layering in that magic and wonder that kids and others felt in those moments. So that kids and families can connect with these very real people across decades. Like when The Muny had some of its first shows on those summer nights… how exciting and vibrant it must have felt for everyone in the crowd… or the Zoo, how our brains just light up when we see a lion with our own eyes (maybe not on top of a train, though).
The combination of historical photography through the Missouri Historical Society and illustrations sort of intruding upon those moments is meant to recreate that sense of wonder and magic for kids. And hopefully get them curious to dig in and learn more as they grow.

Is the book meant to be educational or just a fun read-aloud book celebrating the park?

I think it’s the tenacity of those who built the park, even more than the park itself. Every step of the way, as pore through the history of the park, there are these people who fight tooth and nail for a vision they have for the park. Like Dwight Davis. He saw all these opportunities for people to come and *play* at the park. To remove the “keep off the grass” signs.
The zoo: they didn’t have to make it free. But from the beginning they said it had to be. The art museum: from the beginning they made it free on Sunday afternoons – so everyone could see it. The jewel box: Someone had to say: No, it must be 50 feet tall and made of glass. They didn’t want to hear how hailstorms might crush it; they persisted and demanded engineers who could solve that. And they did.
It’s just how many people fought to build on this space – and how many people still do when you look at Forest Park Forever and all the generous donors who make all of it possible and sustainable. Forest Park is a monument of tenacity and ingenuity and humanity.

What will most people find surprising to learn about as they read the book?

My hope is everyone finds something in there that was maybe a twist on what they might have heard in the past. But for example, the name Dwight Davis wasn’t even in my rolodex before researching for example, and he’s why I’m able to play a pickup game of tennis there.
Electricity at the World’s Fair was something I probably should have known, but I did not. And at the very least, I did not grasp the magnitude of being able to light up buildings at night and how, again, magical that must have felt in that expansive environment. And also, how the World’s Fair (in many ways) propelled the park onto this journey of becoming such a rich destination where art, science, history, nature, athletics, adventure, animals all in come together in one place.

Why did this book need to be made? And why you?

There are so many great texts about Forest Park. One great one is titled simply “Forest Park” by Caroline Loughlin and Catherine B. Anderson. This was one great reference for the book. It’s an extensive textbook-esque read on the park that gives a highly detailed and wonderful overview of the history of the park.
You can think of this book as the training wheels text for the park. Meant to hit similar beats along the timeline, but less about capturing the nuance and more about capturing the impact /and the wonder of some of the major milestones along the way. I suppose the only right I had to making a children’s book about Forest Park is purely based in gratitude. Every character, every illustration came from a place of joy and gratitude – a feeling I personally was reconnecting with as I reflected on the park’s history but also my own history and childhood roaming the park.
I’ve always written and illustrated stories since I was a kid. Construction paper, crayons and stapling it all together. I remember my aunt took my stories and had them printed at Kinko’s and I was in Heaven. So it’s been such a pleasure to marry my love for the park and passion for storytelling in creating this book. Consider it a vibrant love letter to the park I grew up running around in, learning from and enjoying for so many years – the park I now take my own kids to as well.

About the Author

Ian Sullivan grew up in the countryside just outside of St. Louis. Early on, Forest Park became a frequent destination to hunt down adventure, refuel imagination, and stumble into learning a thing or two. Still a St. Louis native, Ian regularly sees and reports on illustrated characters emerging from the world around him—particularly when he’s surrounded by his wife and three kids roaming the city’s most magical destinations.

Contact Ian Sullivan at ianpatsul@gmail.com.