Meet Aaron Fox
And Hear His Journey to Becoming a Children's Book Author
Aaron Fox’s journey to being a children’s book author took some slow yet interesting turns. He was born and grew up around the tiny little town of Brazito, MO, just south of the state’s capital, Jefferson City. Things moved a little slower in Brazito. Because of this and a natural predisposition to taking things as they came, Fox lived a sloth-like existence when it came to most things — slow to react, but quick to analyze the situation.
One of the things that did get Fox’s heart rate up was sports. Not playing, mind you; he was still lumbering when it came to that. But when it came to watching, talking about and even writing about sports, Fox had a voracious appetite. He especially loved the St. Louis Cardinals in baseball and the Missouri Tigers in every sport. Fox took his love of Mizzou sports one step further in 1999 when he attended the University of Missouri. Then, he took his love for writing about and talking about sports to another level when he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism from Mizzou in 2003.
Stepping into the Unknown World of Writing
Before graduating, Fox took a job with a sports radio station with dreams of making that a career. It was here that he learned an important writing skill that would help with children’s books: brevity. Sports stories had to be short, because several of them needed to fit in a two minute sports report. Learning to say fewer words when more are available is a hard skill, but it suited Fox because his sloth tendencies led to thinking of higher quality words in a short span, instead of a higher quantity in the same amount of time.
Starting a New Chapter
In 2008, Fox got unceremoniously fired from his job at the radio station. While it was devastating at the time, especially with the recession fast approaching, it was a critical turning point. It was this unemployment that led to Fox working at Scholastic in Jefferson City. As any parent knows, Scholastic is like Willy Wonka’s factory for children’s books. Employees were able to shop at the company store that had very low prices on all things children’s books. Even though Fox and then fiancée Kelly didn’t have any children, they definitely planned to. So, the couple loaded up on books for their future kids and for Kelly’s classroom where she taught third grade.
Though he left Scholastic for a fulltime job closer to home, children’s books and radio never left Fox’s mind. When his old boss Tom Bradley offered him a spot on his new radio show, aptly named The Tom Bradley Show, Fox jumped at the chance. There was just one problem: the show was a part-time gig. Fox needed something to do to occupy his time and make a little bit of money. Luckily, there was something stuck on repeat in Fox’s mind. Since their first son, Eli, was born in 2015, Fox had been thinking about writing a children’s book. They were reading their son all the fine books they had purchased at Scholastic when Fox, perhaps brazenly, thought, ‘I can do this.’
How a Small Idea Turned Into How Truman Found His Roar
Serendipity struck one day on the radio show. The crew was discussing Fox’s slow nature while also noting that when he wanted to, Fox could spring into action: much like a ninja sloth. This was the kernel of an idea Fox needed for his first book. He would write about an average, ordinary sloth who turned into a superhero! Through a lot of hard work, Fox’s first children’s book came out in 2018. It was called The Secret Life of Sloan the Sloth. He followed that the next year with a story near and dear to his heart...a love story to his Missouri Tigers and their lovable mascot, Truman. How Truman Found His Roar came out in 2019.
Fox now considers writing children’s books more than a passing fancy and has ideas for many more picture books, including more in the Sloan the Sloth series. He and Kelly live in Columbia, MO with Eli, his younger brother Hudson and their basset hound Charlie. They are his continuing inspiration.
