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Actress Tatyana Ali is now venturing into the realm of children’s literature with her debut book, “Aszi and the Octopus.”
In a recent conversation with Scholastic Press Kid Reporter Enya Yang, Ali shared insights about her book’s inspiration, her family’s creative environment, and more. The actress, who is also a mother of two, expressed how the story was deeply influenced by her eldest son’s vivid imagination.
“The inspiration for ‘Aszi and the Octopus’ came from Aszi himself and his fascination with octopuses,” Ali explained. “From a young age, rather than a teddy bear, he had a stuffed octopus. My collaboration with Scholastic allowed me to bring this imaginary world to life. The story unfolds at the beach, capturing the essence of our family’s frequent outings together.”
“Well, Aszi and his love of octopuses inspired it,” she said. “Ever since he was a little baby, instead of having a teddy bear, he had a stuffed octopus, and I do a lot of work with Scholastic. [The book is] about the imaginary world that [Aszi] always had and the story takes place at the beach with the four of us which is something that we’ve done often.”
Ali also spoke about how she balances her career with motherhood.
“Well, [being a] mom comes first,” she said. “I think balance is kind of about prioritizing at different times. When I have an acting job, I concentrate on that. Because I was able to write over a long time, I kept coming back to this [Aszi and the Octopus]. And lots of help from my husband and my family and my friends, my community.”
Aszi, who inspired the story, shared his own thoughts after reading the book.
“I thought it was really cool,” he said. “It represented my imagination.”
He added, “My favorite character was the octopus, and my favorite moment was when a bunch of octopus babies showed up.”
At home, creativity is something the Aszi and his brother regularly explore together through art and drawing.
“We like drawing and doing art together,” Aszi said. “[My favorite thing is] a lot of the monsters I make up. I draw octopus a lot, like a lot. I mostly just draw a lot of sea animals.”
As for what he hopes other kids take away from the book, his answer is simple.
“I hope they feel inspired to be creative.”
Tatyana Ali has two sons with her husband, Dr. Vaughn Rasberry: Edward “Aszi” Rasberry (born September 2016) and Alejandro Vaughn Rasberry (born August 2019).