Karla Redding-Andrews is the executive director and vice president of the Otis Redding Foundation. “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes and Redding-Andrews last spoke in the fall of 2020, when the release of the children’s book “Respect” came out. The book is based on the lyrics to Otis Redding’s famous song. Now, there’s a new children’s book in the series called “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of The Bay.” Redding-Andrews joined Reitzes again, along with Kaitlyn Shea O’Connor, the illustrator of the book.
Interview Highlights:
About the story:
“The illustrations with the little cat just really reflect that he will be sitting until the evening come, waiting to catch his dinner of fish. He’s sitting in the morning sun, and he will be sitting there until the evening comes. It’s amazing the excitement it brings to the eyes of kids when they see his journey traveling through ‘(Sitting on) The Dock of The Bay,’” Redding-Andrews said.
She continued, “He traveled two-thousand miles from home just to make the dock his home.”
“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of The Bay” was one of the last songs Redding wrote before his tragic death in 1967. The song was ranked number four on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart, going on to win two Grammy awards in 1968. It was later certified triple-platinum.
How O’ Connor created the illustrations:
“I had wonderful inspiration, which was the song itself. … I wanted to obviously try and honor this song; it’s such a classic. I grew up with it. It has that nostalgia for me. I wanted to really sit down and listen to the lyrics and try and understand the feeling and the meaning and relate that for kids,” O’ Connor said.
“In order to make that relatable, I came up with this story about this little cat who is trying to catch his dinner and just can’t catch a break — but finally has a friend to show some kindness at the very end of the book,” she continued. “Everyone kind of has warm-fuzzy, happy feelings with [the song], but when I really listened to it, there’s a bit of melancholy to it. So, I wanted this story to have that bit of an arc where there was sort of a struggle. The song really informed the story so much.”
Why it’s a book for all children:
“Kids today are just over figuring out color so much, and people are people. I think this little girl and this little cat in this book, they could have been any color,” said Redding-Andrews. “I think they’ll read these lyrics and kind of place themselves inside the story, so that it becomes a diverse story for anyone. No matter the color. No matter the animal. I think it’s really an inspiration to all kids.”
