Grayslake author puts kids to sleep with best-seller

With a career in graphic design, two children and a household to run, Sherri Rinker never saw herself as a New York Times Bestselling author, but the Grayslake native added accomplished author to her title this summer.

Her first book, “Goodnight Goodnight, Construction Site,” tells the story of trucks on a construction site as they get ready to go to sleep, a bedtime story she said she hopes will appeal to young boys and truck lovers alike.

Rinker started her college career at Southern Illinois University as a journalism major, but then, as she said, got “bitten by the art bug” and went down a different path.

However, she turned back to writing when her second son had a passion for trucks and trains and she was struggling to find a soothing bedtime story that kept his interest and got him ready for sleep.

“It occurred to me that there was a seed of an idea there,” she said. “One day I took the plunge and started to write it out.”

Rinker said she would stay up late and write whenever she could find a quiet moment, even bringing the project on vacations.

As a newcomer to the publishing industry, Rinker sought advice from friends of friends, contacting published authors and joining the society of children’s book writers and illustrators.

Without an agent or a reputation as an already published writer, Rinker’s story was thrown into what is often know as a “slush pile” of unsolicited manuscripts.

Her manuscript was picked out and three months later she was offered a contract, which Rinker said was like winning the lottery.

“I’m not the person that wins the door prize or the scratch lottery. Everything in my life feels like it was a struggle,” Rinker said. “So for this to happen with relative ease has been rather astonishing.”

The book was officially released April 20 and hit shelves in early May, landing on The New York Times Bestseller list a month later.

“It has been a bit of a whirlwind,” Rinker said.

She was surprised by the fast success of her first book, but is enjoying her newfound career.

“I think there was a need for something like this, it hit a nerve,” Rinker said. “Not to alienate little girls, but it’s very boy-friendly. It’s tough and sweet at the same time, like little boys. I wrote this book with great love; I wrote it for my own child. I hope a piece of that comes through.”

Rinker said the illustrations for the book, which are done by Tom Lichtenheld of West suburban Geneva, helped bring the trucks in the story to life.

“They are sweet, timeless and just the right amount of tough,” Rinker said.

Though Rinker and Lichtenheld didn’t know one another before this book, he said it was an ironic twist that they are both from the Chicago suburbs.

Lichtenheld said he tried to tell parts of the story that couldn’t be told with words. He said he wasn’t surprised by the book’s success because he was happy with how it came out.

“The measure of success with a bedtime book is if it puts the reader to sleep, which is a funny thing,” he said.

Since the book’s publication, Rinker has been spreading her message about the importance of reading with visits to schools and libraries.

“I tell the kids, ‘No matter what you want to be when you grow up, make sure you read,’” Rinker said, adding it’s important for parents to find time to read with their children.

Rinker visited a youth program at the Grayslake Area Public Library at the end of June to talk with students from third to sixth grade about the importance of reading and writing.

Students told Rinker reading helps them expand their imagination and think about the world differently.

The writing program, Come Write In — The Next Chapter group was led by Tracy Nielsen in youth services from the library. Nielsen said they’ve never had a published author speak to their group before. She said she hoped it would inspire the students to keep writing and aim high.

Rinker said she is working on her next book, which has the working title “Steam Train, Dream Train,” and has a few more ideas she’d like to pursue in the future. She added that her main focus is stressing the importance of reading to young children.

“It opens the world,” she said.