A Spark of Inspiration

Jere Silber began writing in 1974. His first screenplay was inspired by Harry Chapin’s classic song “Taxi,” and for more than two decades, his writing focused on screenplays and other projects intended for adults. Writing for children had never crossed his mind.

That all changed in 1997 because of a five-year-old girl named Morgan.

Morgan, Jere’s daughter and the inspiration behind the name Morgan’s Magical Media, would ultimately become the driving force behind his first children’s book, Tree Story, originally titled The Family Tree.

At the time, Jere was divorced, and it was his weekend with Morgan. He was also just emerging from a long and frustrating bout of writer’s block and was anxious to get back to work on a screenplay that had been sitting unfinished while his creative thought process seemed to have gone on an extended vacation.

There was only one small problem.

Morgan wanted her father’s attention.

Trying to keep his daughter happy and entertained while he worked, Jere kept feeding the VCR what seemed like an endless supply of children’s videos. Eventually, he thought he had succeeded when Morgan became engrossed in Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

He was wrong.

Morgan quickly made it clear that she wasn’t particularly happy about being left alone on what Jere jokingly came to think of as “Barney Island.”

Then she asked her father a simple question that would change the direction of his writing career:

“How come you never write anything that I can read?”

Jere was caught completely off guard.

“Well, what should I write?” he asked.

Morgan apparently had her answer ready.

“You can write about trees. You should make them families of trees in a forest!”

And just like that, Jere Silber had been challenged by his five-year-old daughter to write his first children’s book.

His initial plan was simple: spend an hour or two writing a quick little story about a couple of trees, make Morgan happy, and then get right back to his screenplay.

But something unexpected happened.

The story began to grow.

One or two trees became families of trees. The forest grew larger. Wildlife began appearing. Characters developed personalities and relationships. What was supposed to be a quick diversion became something Jere found increasingly difficult to walk away from.

He has often described experiencing an extraordinary creative energy whenever he returned his fingers to the keyboard. It was unlike anything he had experienced during his previous years of writing.

By the time he finished, the simple story about “a tree or two” had grown into an entire forest populated by families of trees and a wide variety of wildlife, all living together harmoniously.

The project became Tree Story.

Geared toward children ages 8–13, Tree Story follows families of trees whose peaceful lives are suddenly disrupted when they are harvested and transported to a lumber mill. There, they are transformed into different wood products and seemingly scattered in different directions.

Throughout their journey, the tree families face the heartbreaking possibility that they may have been separated forever.

But have they?

What began as a five-year-old daughter’s request for something she could read became the beginning of an entirely new chapter in her father’s life.

Before that weekend in 1997, Jere Silber had never imagined himself writing a children’s book.

Morgan changed that with one question.

And more than anything else Jere has written since, that moment explains why the company he eventually created could only have one name:

Morgan’s Magical Media.

Kideo World Productions will soon be the children’s entertainment and video production division of Morgan’s Magical Media, where imagination, creativity, and storytelling come together.

We believe every child deserves stories that entertain, inspire, educate, and encourage them to dream. Through colorful characters, original music, meaningful messages, and engaging visuals, we create high-quality video content designed especially for children and families.

Our mission is to make learning entertaining and entertainment meaningful—creating stories that capture a child’s imagination while sharing positive messages about friendship, kindness, acceptance, confidence, and the world around us.

At Kideo World Productions, we don’t just tell stories.  We bring imagination to life.

Stay tuned... the next adventure is just beginning!