The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box by Marcie Wessels, illustrated by Beatriz Castro (Sterling Publishing)
Marcie Wessel’s journey with her new picture book biography, The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: the Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer, began with her son’s love for another book, blended with her husband’s love for video games and sprang to life with the discovery of an unpublished memoir by her subject. Fittingly for the San Diego, California-based author who likes to write about games, Marcie likes to play games — board games, specifically, with Scrabble as her favorite. And while Ralph Baer tinkered with and invented machines, Marcie tinkers with words and invents stories, starting with her debut picture book, Pirate’s Lullaby: Mutiny at Bedtime (illustrated by Tim Bowers, Doubleday Books for Young Readers).
How did you hear about Ralph Baer? What made you want to write about him?
The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer was inspired by my son. A bit of a reluctant reader, he fell in love with Whoosh: Lonnie Johnson’s Super Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, 2016), written by Chris Baron and illustrated by Don Tate. The subject of the book was so kid-friendly, it inspired me to look into the history of other toys and games. Like many kids, my son loves video games. “Who invented video games?” I wondered. As I began to conduct research about the history of video games, I came across Ralph Baer’s name. I had never heard of Baer before. Neither had my husband who had grown up playing video games.
Whoosh! by Chris Barton, illustrated by Don Tate (Charlesbridge) inspired Marcie Wessels to write The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box
The more I learned about Baer’s pioneering work, the more I felt his story needed to be told. Kids today have always grown up with video games but video games haven’t always existed. And Baer’s work was crucial to their creation. I’m not much of a gamer but I am a fan of Ralph Baer! Early on in the project, I was able to obtain a copy of Baer’s unpublished memoir from The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. It was a discovery that helped me connect with Baer in a completely different way.
I had read articles, watched interviews, and even read Baer’s book, Video Games: In the Beginning, but I never had the chance to meet him in person. Having his memoir, reading his story in his own words, helped me get a better feel for his personality. Baer was a fun-loving guy, a real Renaissance man, and a consummate story teller. On a personal level, I connected with Baer’s curiosity, his adventurous spirit, and his desire to create. Ralph Baer had such a long and distinguished life.
The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box by Marcie Wessels, illustrated by Beatriz Castro (Sterling Books)
How big a challenge was it to give a sense of his many inventions, while staying focused on his invention of the first video game?
A really big challenge! With over 150 registered patents, Baer’s life and accomplishments could easily fill the pages of a novel. But since I was writing a picture book, I only had 40 pages. In the earliest drafts of the manuscript, I tried to include more information, but these drafts turned out to be pretty dry. They read more like a newspaper article than a picture book. In conversations with my agent, we developed an organizer to help maintain focus. “Box” was the word that emerged. Playing with the word “box” and various idioms (“boxed in”, “think outside the box”, “idiot box”) helped the story arc became more focused and eventually led to the title of the book.
Your first sentence sets up the thread that weaves through the story beautifully: “On the streets of Cologne, Germany, a boy named Ralph Baer made his own fun.” Did you have that sentence from the start? If not, how long did it take you to find it?
Play was a theme from the very beginning but the first sentence was probably the last (or the second to last) sentence that I wrote. Baer obviously didn’t have video games growing up but inventing was a form of play for Baer. And even though technology has radically changed the way we play, the desire to have fun is a constant across generations. Baer wanted to create products that would delight and entertain, an impulse that stemmed from his own desire to play and to invent.
I was also impressed by how you acknowledged the enormous burden of being a Jewish child persecuted in Nazi Germany and yet stayed on task with what the story was about — a boy who thought outside the box to make his own fun.
Baer faced many challenges in his life. His early life experience undoubtedly shaped his personality and helped him develop the creativity and resourcefulness for which he is known.
Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark (illustrated by Katie Wu, Sterling Books) was another inspiration for Marcie Wessels
Can you tell us about your book journey, from idea to acquired manuscript? How long was your revision process?
I began working on the idea in the fall of 2016. I wrote numerous drafts and submitted the manuscript for critique at two SCBWI conferences. In the fall of 2017, my agent sent the manuscript out on submission. While we were waiting to hear back from editors, I read Laurie Wallmark’s Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer (2017), illustrated by Katy Wu. I noticed that Laurie’s book was a part of Sterling’s People Who Shaped Our World Series. People Who Shaped Our World? Ralph Baer certainly did that! My manuscript seemed like great fit for Sterling’s list. With my agent’s blessing, I submitted to Sterling via mail. A few months later, it was picked out of the slush pile. By early 2018, I had an offer.
The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box by Marcie Wessels, illustrated by Beatriz Castro (Sterling Books)
How do you feel about Beatriz Castro’s illustrations? Was there anything that surprised you? Do you have any favorite spreads?
I couldn’t be happier! Since the day my editor shared Beatriz’s portfolio with me, I’ve been a fan. She was the perfect choice to illustrate The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box! I love her color palette. Her interior scenes have such great detail. And Beatriz did an amazing job depicting the changes in hairstyle, clothing, and furnishing across five decades in two different countries. No small feat! My favorite spread is in the middle of the book. It depicts Baer and his fellow soldiers listening to the radio that he built from scratch.
Marcie Wessels sitting on the RALPH BAER MEMORIAL BENCH on May 10, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire after its unveiling and dedication in Arms Park. He is honored with a bench, she explains, because “Ralph Baer was sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus, when he wrote up the design documents outlining his TV gaming idea.”
You dedicated the book to gamers everywhere. Do you have any favorite gamers in your life who are getting a kick out this book?
Yes, my husband and son!
What do you hope kids will take away from this book?
I hope kids will enjoy learning a bit about the history of video games. More importantly, I hope it will inspire kids to be “out of the box thinkers” like Ralph Baer.
Marcie is also the author of Pirate’s Lullaby, Mutiny at Bedtime, illustrated by Tim Bowers (Doubleday Books for Young Readers)
Follow Marcie on social media!
On her website: marciewessels.com
On Facebook: @MarcieRinkaWessels
On Facebook: @MarcieWessels
On Facebook: @boyralphbaer
On Instagram: @mwessels
On Twitter: @MarcieDWessels