Where do Ocean Creatures Sleep at Night?

Join us on Wild Development Studio for a special World Oceans Day episode, where we explore the magical world of marine life with authors Stephen and Clifford Simmons. We'll discuss their delightful book, Where Do Ocean Creatures Sleep?, and dive into the fascinating sleep habits of ocean animals. Discover how this father-son duo's passion for the ocean inspires their storytelling and highlights the importance of conservation.

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Transcript

The octopus can sleep by day or night. 
It rests in a hole to stay out of sight. 
And when safely sleeping with nothing to fear, it may still change colors. 
The reason's not clear. 
Welcome to Wild Development Studio. 
Join us as we venture into the breathtaking realm of wildlife life arts and untamed adventures. 
With captivating stories from the field and ideas to dive in to the visual arts, 
we'll ignite your passion for conservation. 
Get ready to develop something wild. 
Welcome to a special episode of Wild Developments. 
I'm your host Lauren and I am thrilled to have you with us today because we are celebrating World Oceans Day. 
The official date falls on June 8th every year, but in case you missed it, 
no worries. 
Every day should be World Oceans Day because we cannot survive without it. 
Our oceans cover more than 70of the Earth's surface and are home to a vast array of incredible creatures, 
each with their own unique stories and behaviors. 
They play a critical role in regulating our climate, supporting marine and terrestrial life, 
and providing a source of livelihood and nourishment for billions of people around the world. 
World. 
World Oceans Day is a significant occasion to raise awareness about the vital importance of our oceans and the urgent need to protect them. 
From overfishing and plastic pollution to climate change and habitat destruction, our oceans face numerous threats. 
It is imperative that we take collective action to preserve and restore the health of our oceans for future generations. 
On this special occasion, we are diving into the enchanting world of marine life with a spotlight on a delightful book, 
Where Do Ocean Creatures Sleep? 
We are honored to welcome the book's authors for today's episode, Stephen Simmons and his son, 
Clifford Simmons. 
Steve has a background as a professor of law and government, a White House aide on domestic policy, 
and a leader in the cable industry. 
Stephen graduated from Cornell University and Harvard Law School and has taught constitutional law and a course on Congress at the University of California. 
His academic writings have been featured in prestigious journals. 
In addition to his academic and professional achievements, Stephen also is a celebrated author of children's books. 
His best -selling book, Alice and Greta, A Tale of Two Witches, was inspired by moments of playful creativity with his children. 
Stephen's passion for storytelling has brought joy to countless young readers. 
Also joining us today is Cliff. 
His lifelong passion for writing and love for his nieces and nephews fuels his enthusiasm for children's literature. 
With a background at Google and now running his own business, cliff brings a fresh perspective to their co -authored works together steve and cliff have crafted a magical journey through the ocean's depths exploring the intriguing question where do ocean creatures sleep their book offers a whimsical yet educational glimpse into the nighttime habits of marine animals perfect for young readers and ocean enthusiasts alike steve and cliff thank you guys so much for being here today it's a pleasure thanks for having us. 
Thank you guys. 
In my hands, I have Where Do Ocean Creatures Sleep at Night? 
It is a beautiful book. 
I absolutely love it. 
My nephews love it. 
What inspired you guys to write this book focusing on ocean creatures? 
Well, it really started as part of a three book series. 
And it started when I looked around my backyard in Greenwich about seven years ago and saw all the creatures, 
butterflies and bumblebees, squirrels, rabbits, birds, of course. 
Course, and I thought, boy, this would be a wonderful children's book if I could write about how when the children went to sleep, 
how did creatures sleep or rest? 
What did they do? 
So Charles Bridge published that about three years ago, and then Cliff had been so helpful in his creative input on the first book. 
I said, Cliff, come join me. 
Let's co -author the the second book and he did and that was a continuation of the theme and it's where do big creatures sleep at night so focusing on gorillas and elephants and lions where you know giraffes how do they sleep at night or rest and then uh the third book came naturally to Cliff and I I mean we love the ocean we've snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef uh in the Caribbean in. 
Hawaii. We love the ocean. 
We love swimming in it, surfing in it, being with it. 
We love to see the birds that fly over it, whether it's pelicans or seagulls. 
So we loved doing this book about ocean creatures and it, you know, 
really came to us that it would be so interesting to write about how an octopus sleeps or how does a whale sleep or how does a starfish or pardon me a seahorse sleep so starfish was one we were going to do but decided not to but in any event uh yeah that's how it happened about two years ago i did a night dive in saint croix and i'll have to send you guys a picture i got a green sea turtle sleeping in a big sponge and his like back end just kind of hanging out of it it's the funniest thing and he's asleep in a giant sponge um the octopus were awake and moving so i was thinking about that night dive a lot as i was reading this book i was that something you guys always wanted to do was to write children's books or it just came to you one day when you were outside like you said well my dad um has written lots of children's books before this series so even when i was growing up in the 90s you know i was always inspired watching him write whether it's alice and greta um jasper the fish you saved a marriage percy the pigeon so i i got to to grow up watching him write those children's books and also read those books to me um and so when we had the opportunity to partner up together for this series of books um it obviously made it all the more special that is amazing and i work with my husband and it can be quite challenging to work with a family member how is the dynamics like for you two yeah uh i think it's great um i think we know each other so well that we know one another strengths and weaknesses and work styles um yeah i've always admired my dad's work ethic from a professional standpoint so getting to see that up close and personal on a on a on a project like this we're working so closely i think it's been really rewarding and has made it fun so did you learn anything new about your dad like seeing the business side of him i learned it's a good question i learned uh i always knew he was very thorough and uh and thoughtful about the way that he conducts work but i think i learned that firsthand just the thoroughness with which we create each and every draft and do our do our reviews use then again i was learning from him a bit in the process because he's he's gone through this process before publishing books so i would say that i would say that dad the thoroughness and kind of the thoughtfulness you put into the process steve did you learn anything about your son and his work ethic during this process i did i i felt that um i just continue to be extraordinarily impressed with Cliff's creative genius and he is able to see things and see ideas that didn't occur to me and it's wonderful to see your son who you know you knew as a little boy and first help him ride his bicycle and help him walk to to see him now coming up. 
Being ahead of you in kind of some of these creative endeavors, which is amazing to see. 
I might add, just very quickly, that Cliff referred to other books and so forth. 
All of the books I've read and Cliff and I have, pardon me, 
all of the books I've done, written, and books that Cliff and I have written are on our website, 
simmonsbooks .com. 
That's Simmons, S -I -M -M -O -N -S, SimmonsBooks .com. 
And we also have an Instagram account, at Simmons Stories, at Simmons Stories. 
So we'd encourage people to just go there and take a look around. 
Also have a lot of reviews and comments people have on the work. 
So it's fun. 
And I'll be sure to tag both the sites that you just mentioned in the show description. 
So people, as they're listening, can hop right over and check you guys out for sure. 
Thank you. 
When you guys are writing this series of books on where animals sleep at night, 
what animals are you inspired to write about? 
What's the process like in picking those animals? 
It's a pretty intensive and thorough process. 
I mean, it's really based on two things at the end of the day, 
once we narrow it down. 
It's what animals are going to have the most interesting facts about their sleep habits that will be exciting and educational for young kids and then secondly uh which animals uh do we feel we're going to be able to bring alive with the illustrations in the most interesting way so those are kind of the two key criteria but first we we create a very extensive list so we go through and and just like a lot of things with writing it's the hard part is narrowing it down afterwards words. 
Once we create this initial list, and then write drafts and do all the research, 
of course, about all of their daytime and their nighttime habits. 
And then from there, we narrow it down really based on those two criteria that I mentioned. 
Yeah, like the parrotfish. 
I've yet to see that in the wild, but that is such a crazy story about how they make a protection ball around around them during their sleep habits as far as your research goes what does that look like are you guys calling zoologists or yeah we decided to keep it to the online effort and but it wasn't just like googling one source for every animal sleep habits we probably did i don't know four to six sources which would refer to oceanography journals and would refer to research by people at various centers. 
And sometimes we found that sources conflicted about sleep habits, you know, they just didn't know, 
so that would take us to more research. 
And then sometimes sleep habits it's different in captivity versus not so that was especially true with the big creatures book but um yeah so that's kind of how it was and then uh we divided up the creatures once we as clip well says we met once we narrowed the list so i was responsible for a certain number clip was responsible for a certain number and then we'd get together and uh so yeah it was uh you know you want it to be accurate so you had to you had to check a number of sources to do that so yeah yeah did you find that it was more difficult researching ocean animals just because that's such a foreign environment for humans really see that at night well i think it was certainly more difficult than backyard creatures for sure it was yes i think the answer is yes it was more difficult than uh big creatures as well though as i said in big creatures you got differing information sometimes by observing a big creature in captivity how it slept versus perhaps in the wild how it slept but i think yes i think on uh on ocean creatures it was a little bit but perhaps more challenging. 
Yeah, because so many of these creatures are sleeping out in the middle of the ocean. 
You know, the ocean covers about 71of the Earth's surface. 
It's this enormous, enormous part of our world, and some places is miles deep, 
you know? 
And so not everything has been exactly researched to a T on sleeping habits. 
But we managed to find enough sources to be comfortable to put it in. 
And sometimes, you know, there'd be things that creatures would do that people didn't know. 
For example, several sources said that when, well, let's take an octopus. 
An octopus can change colors to camouflage itself as it goes around coral reefs or rocks and so forth. 
And then one source said that when an octopus sleeps in a hole or something like that, 
it also changed colors. 
Now, it's clearly asleep, so it's not trying to camouflage itself against an attack. 
And the common theory seemed to be that, you know, it was probably having dreams, 
some kind of dreams and changing now i we didn't put that in because there were differing opinions but we said people can't you know people can't agree on why uh you know the octopus changes color in fact i can probably just pop this up right here let's see uh we said and i'll read this just i'll read the octopus section if that's okay here absolutely yeah it's beautiful and by the way we start each with each of these creatures we start with some activities during the day and what they do uh when they're not resting or sleeping and then we go into sleeping habits i'll also mention as you can see from the spectacular illustration ruth harper we were. 
We're so lucky to get the award -winning Ruth Harper to do this series of books with us. 
She's spectacular. 
But an octopus can change the color of its skin to hide from others as it blends in. 
It has many arms, eight to be exact. 
And if it loses an arm, a new one grows back. 
The octopus can sleep by day or night. 
It rests in a hole to stay out of sight. 
And when safely sleeping with nothing to fear it may still change colors the reasons not clear so uh yeah that's an example of where we were looking at what scientists were saying but there didn't seem to be a consensus so that is so fascinating that a simple question for a children's book where do ocean creatures sleep at night brings to light areas in science that maybe they need to do a little bit more research and we can learn more about these animals and that brings up the topic of ocean conservation and getting kids hooked at a really early age what are some ways that we can get our children active in conservation one is uh how to read our book where do ocean creatures because it really gets them i think interested in the ocean in the environment. 
I mean, we of course hope this will be a wonderful nighttime book where a parent or a sibling will cuddle up with a child and read it as a nighttime book. 
But we also hope it's going to be for a child who will read it him or herself. 
But we also hope it's a book that will encourage interest in the oceans and the creatures that live in it. 
But beyond that, I think it's always important, like I did with Cliff and the other kids I've had, 
to bring them to aquariums so that they can see ocean creatures right up close and personal. 
I think it's helpful if they take a look at some wonderful documentaries that are available today to watch on television. 
Blue Planet and a bunch of others. 
You just go and look. 
But I think, and then I think it's important for parents and schools to talk about the oceans. 
And as I said, it covers so much of our planet and, you know, 
how important it is to preserve it for future generations. 
The co -founder of OnlyOne, the organization focused on advancing ocean protection, endorsed your guys' book. 
How did that feel? 
That must have been pretty amazing. 
Yeah, it's exciting. 
It's exciting and just validating in terms of the work we put into it and the facts about these creatures and how interesting they are. 
And, of course, accurate. 
So, yeah, that was an exciting milestone, I would say. 
Dead. 
Yeah, no, I agree, Cliff. 
And if you go to that website I talked about, you know, there are also a bunch of other marine biologists and people that have written books about the ocean who have endorsed this book as well. 
So it's very satisfying to see that. 
And as Cliff well said, validated, you know. 
That's amazing. At the end of the book, you guys note how sleep is important for children as well why do you feel like that was an important thing to include at the end of the book i think i think we wanted the book to have a message right and then you know clearly we knew it was going to be a great bedtime story um to be read to children so not only something with exciting and cool illustrations for kids and then something that would teach them new facts that would kind of you know make their eyes wide right but given the whole theme of the book one of the one of the things we loved about this concept in the series is that it made for a perfect bedtime story um just given given the theme and the content of of the book and so we really wanted it to have a broader message at the end each time where we tie it back um as a learning for why sleep is also so important for young kids and we thought that's that's only going to benefit the kids more i think that's that's going to make parents appreciate the book even more not only educating them about these animals but also then then rounding them back to that message about why sleep is important for for humans too yeah and exactly right and just as these creatures need their rest for sleep so that they can have energy for the next day's activities so it is that children need their sleep so they'll have their own energy for the next day to to learn. 
To develop their bodies, to enjoy all the activities that they're going to have in the following day. 
So I have a 15-year -old and he is at the point in his life where he's like, 
I've read all day at school and I don't want to read anymore. 
So I have started family reading time and we all read for about 15minutes. 
And I'm like, I don't care what it is, as long as it is something fun, 
but you're reading. 
How can we get children more interested in reading and writing? 
This is something critical. 
If you look at the averages of third graders who read at grade level, 
there's a significant percentage that do not. 
And if you can't read properly, it affects your entire education. 
How can you learn history? 
How can you learn science? 
How can you learn social studies? 
How can you read the great books? 
And so reading is something that's absolutely 100a basic foundation for the rest of your schooling and education and then for the rest of your life as you go into the job market so it's something that has to be done I think it can't be left just to the schools although that's obviously very important. 
But I think it needs to be at night. 
And I think it starts young. 
I think one shouldn't wait till someone's 15or 12.
I mean, it really ought to almost begin in preschool. 
And I think it's very important that every child have an opportunity to start some sort of school or group experience, 
whatever you might call it, even before kindergarten. 
And it's been shown that children that have that pre -kindergarten experience learn so many more words, 
have such a larger vocabulary. 
And then as they go forward, I think giving them books that are of interest. 
We hope, hopefully, like, you know, where do ocean creatures sleep at night? 
But there are many books. 
And, you know, begin earlier where you have simpler books. 
Pat the Bunny or where it's Good Night Moon. 
Books that are of that nature. 
Some boys like books about trucks, which, fine, you know, it gets them to be interested. 
It. 
Some like different kinds of books about dinosaurs or dinosaurs love tacos. 
Great. If it gets them interested in reading, I think that's wonderful. 
These are good books to be read to children. 
And then I think you just keep that up. 
You keep up the reading. 
Another thing I think is important is to try to limit screen time because kids get so obsessed with videos and you know that that reading takes a second third fourth place and well it's fine to have some screen time but I think it's also important to make sure that kids are reading as well so that's kind of our approach to it yeah and getting off the phones is definitely a crucial part to that in reading like you said also getting outside do you guys have a favorite moment that you've shared outside i do and i would we uh when we would snorkel we bring back sand for his mom my wife eileen and we dive sometimes quip would be able to go deeper than i so we go down and we bring back the sand up to the top and just a little bit. 
A pinch of it, you know, and we'd bring it back to and put it in a bottle for Mrs. 
Simmons. 
So I think that was pretty special. 
Cliff, you may have some other moments. 
I don't know. 
Yeah, my dad and well, my mom, too. 
They both got me very involved in nature at a young age and readings. 
I think that parents have a very important role in getting their kids involved in nature and in reading for sure where do you guys like to go snorkeling do you have a favorite spot yeah well we uh i don't think they don't think there is a favorite spot i think probably the great barrier reef was the most extraordinary experience nice and as i was saying before i think the virgin islands or down in the caribbean has has been a pretty extraordinary place. 
And then down here in Florida, we found a couple of spots on the intercoastal that are pretty amazing. 
So yeah, it's been pretty extraordinary time doing that and having fun. 
How long have you guys been snorkeling in around coral reefs? 
And have you noticed a change over the years? 
Yeah. Well, we've snorkeled for a long time. 
In fact, when we got back from the Great Barrier. 
Reef, I was so taken with it. 
And Cliff was young, very young at the time. 
And I created a large, very large fish tank in our house, saltwater with corals and all sorts of different different fishes. 
Cliff and his class would come over, and other kids' classes would come over and I'd give a little talk on the fish and the coral, 
and they'd take a look at it and be amazed by it. 
But unfortunately, because of warming of our planet, we're seeing around the world bleaching of coral and if the water gets too warm the algae can't survive with the corals and there's a synergistic relationship between the two and kind of symbiotic dependency if you will. 
Coral needs the algae, the algae needs coral. 
And as a result, we're seeing bleaching, and it's very, very disappointing to see that happen. 
And, you know, there are lots of worries from global warming, which could include melting more of the ice in places like Antarctica and so forth, 
but which can result in rising seas, which can result in coastal cities experiencing real tragedy. 
So I'm not saying that the bleaching of coral is the most important consequence of global warming. 
There's the coastal areas. 
There's weather, obviously, we're seeing in the last few years changing significantly. 
But it's one of the impacts. 
And, you know, these reefs, coral reefs contain so many different species of fish and so many different kinds of life that my sincerest hope is that this bleaching does not continue in any significant way and that the coral reefs survive. 
Live because they really are vital to the oceans. 
I actually just saw, I think it was Noah posted before and after of bleached coral and they actually recovered. 
I had always thought that once the coral had bleached, it was done for, 
but I guess there is some hope that they can recover, that symbiotic algae can come back, 
which is why it's so important you guys are doing what you're doing and bringing awareness to young children and and letting them fall in love with ocean animals do you guys have a fourth book in the series that you're working on stay stay tuned all right fair enough yeah yeah definitely have some ideas that we're bouncing around that we're excited about awesome now stephen you also sculpt animals can you tell us about that work yes uh just uh i began sculpting about 25years ago and uh i've now gotten you know a fairly wide collection if you want to see my sculptures go to simmonsculpture .com simmonsculpture .com there's about 45different sculptures but yeah there i've done sculptures a lot of whales. 
I've fallen in love with the humpback whale. 
So I've done different types of humpback whales in bronze. 
You know, you begin them in clay, and then from the clay you bring it to a foundry and they make it into bronze. 
I've done stingrays, spotted stingrays, which seem to flow through the water. 
I've done pelicans flying over the the ocean. 
I've done ospreys doing the same thing. 
So I really, you know, most of my work on the animal side is in bronze, 
but I've kind of branched out also to do abstract metalworks and stainless steel and aluminum that can go outside and are different colors or stainless steel. 
And I enjoy it greatly. 
It gives me great satisfaction to be able to do that. 
And I'm looking at the cover of the book, and I see a turtle, 
and it reminds me I've done a sea turtle with a nice tortoise, 
too. 
And I've also done, I think, some fun, large outdoor and indoor sculptures of dolphins, 
you know, which appear in the book, you know? 
So, I don't know. 
You know, I love dolphins, and one of the inspiring—I'll just read from the book, 
The Dolphin. 
If I can just quickly page. 
A bottlenose dolphin can jump very high. 
Its long back arches up toward the sky. 
It rides waves and plays with friends. 
Its mouth seems to smile from end to end. 
A dolphin's rest is not very deep because only one side of its brain is asleep. 
The other side stays awake and aware so the dolphin remembers to always breathe air. 
So it has that glow hole, which I, of course, captured in the sculpture. 
It's fun. 
Yeah, one of my favorite memories, I was out at Homosassa, Florida, out on a paddleboard, 
and I had two dolphins swim right underneath my board. 
Just incredible. 
Marvelous. 
Fabulous. 
Love it. 
So between writing and sculpting, when do you sleep, sir? 
Well, I also have some business I take care of. 
But, you know, it's a busy time, busy day. 
Cliff also has a very busy job himself. 
He's very successful at digital advertising. 
But, you know, I tend to go to sleep at night. 
And just like the ocean creatures, we all need our sleep, and as do I. 
So I get my eight hours. 
Very good. 
And do you guys have any long -term goals that you're hoping to accomplish together? 
Well, one is to, well, most importantly, father -son, you know? 
It's one of the most satisfying relationships in one's life, I think. 
So I think that's obviously the most important one is continuing to love and support and be with your son. 
Book -wise, we have a bunch of other things we're going to look at. 
And sculpture -wise, of course, the same thing for me. 
And it's been, you know, a pleasure being with you. 
Before we go, do we have one tip that you each have for someone that would like to reconnect with nature? 
Yeah, I would, you know, especially in the ocean theme. 
I think walking on a beach and looking out at the ocean, sitting down and watching the waves crash on that beach, 
thinking about the fact that this has been going on for millions of years. 
Years, and the sea life in that ocean has been thriving for millions of years, 
and that it's important to keep that going, and then if you can get out on a paddle board like you, 
or get out on a kayak like I do and Cliff does, or just get out on a boat and experience experience the ocean from being within it. 
But being present, being there, not thinking about anything else but just looking and observing the ocean, 
seeing the waves, maybe you'll see some fish, maybe you'll snorkel, maybe you'll see some birds flying overhead. 
Had i think is a is a great way to kind of uh experience nature for me i mean i've gotten uh a lot more into meditating lately and i like doing it outdoors um as much as i possibly can and so of course just meditation aside being a you know be putting yourself in nature um whether it's in the ocean or whether it's not in the ocean um as much as possible of course is going to help but for me personally when i can meditate outside it feels like i'm connecting with with nature and with earth even more so um lately but by doing that that would be a tip that i have that's been really rewarding it was great advice guys and thank you so much for sharing your book with the world and being on the show today until next time get outside and see what develops thanks. 
Thanks for joining Wild Development Studio. 
We hope this exploration into the world of wildlife arts and adventure has sparked a desire to get outside and connect with something wild. 
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