Reid Genauer Publishes First Children’s Book ‘Jeffery’s Jungle’

Singer-songwriter Reid Genauer has announced the publication of his first children’s book, entitled Jeffery’s Jungle. The Strangefolk and Assembly Of Dust guitarist wrote the words and Alan Close illustrated the 24-page book aimed at kids ages 4 – 9.

With a 20+ career as a musician who also has a successful entrepreneurial career in the tech industry, the move to children’s author is yet another evolution for the veteran musician and father. As can be expected, his musical endeavors overlap his foray into kid’s lit, as two of his major sources of inspiration were children’s author and lyricist Shel Silverstein and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

“At the age of 9 after a book fair at school, I got Shel Silverstein’s Where The Sidewalk Ends,” said Genauer. “I cant say for sure why but it touched me in and broke through to my creative consciousness. I was just remember being tickled by the stories and engaged with the writing and the author in a way I had not previously felt. It prompted me to start to try and write. I remember creating a few Silverstein kind of limericks and feeling the high of the creative buzz for the first time. It’s like discovering that you’re a Jedi and reveling in the fact that you can move an object using ‘the force.’

“In 7th grade I went to middle school and was hanging around with two guys who’s older sisters where into the Grateful Dead. They gave me a bootleg tape of Live Dead. I heard “St. Stephen” and bam! – I knew at that moment that I wanted to make songs that made me feel like “St. Stephen” did and pretty much I have never looked back. Lyrically, I have been most inspired by Robert Hunter – who wrote most of the lyrics for Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.”

Genauer’s 4-year-old son Jed recently made his debut appearance joining his dad on stage at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California. Watch the adorable sit-in below:

“Reid’s a great songwriter. He has a natural approach to a song that is artful, lyrically acrobatic and accessible,” said Bill Nershi of The String Cheese Incident. “He and I have always bonded about the role of song craft in the sea of musical improvisation. Writing a children’s book is a natural extension of what he does best. Not surprisingly his book comes off as mischievous and fun loving as he is.”

With a cache of more 100 children’s poems already written – some from before fatherhood – Genauer has his sights on publishing a series of books. Jeffery’s Jungle is available now in soft cover and for Amazon Kindle.