FAIRHOPE, Ala. — If your first exposure to the written word was through a children’s book that your mother or father helped select at a library or bookmobile, you probably knew from an early age that reading can be fun and educational at the same time. Many still cherish those stories of yesteryear.

But as first-time authors and additional titles appear on the scene, they carry forward the joy of reading to a whole new generation. Shannon and Jerry Roberts hope to do that very thing with their first book, “Leroy the Flyboy, Volume 1: Search and Rescue.”

This flight of fancy was created by the avid pilots not only as a way to encourage reading among children ages 4 to 11, but also interest them in airplanes.

The Roberts will autograph their book on Saturday, Aug. 1, from 2-4 p.m., at Page & Palette, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope.

This isn’t their first booksigning. The Fairhope couple have held similar events along the East Coast, including a total of four at both locations of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Their book is sold in the gift shop there.

Young Leroy and his pal, Penny, are members of the Civil Air Patrol, and the organization has been asked to help locate a downed private plane in southeast Ohio. The book shadows the two as they take to the skies in Leroy’s Waco YMF-5 (a 73-year-old design with a radial engine) in search of a lost family.

Details of the search are realistic, from the initial planning to the debriefing after each flight. The book concludes on a high note though, because it is meant for kids’ tender sensibilities.

“She wanted to make sure it was a gentle crash,” Jerry said. “The flights are an organized and planned process, and it’s not very easy. It’s a forgone conclusion you’re going to find it will have a happy ending.”

The inspiration for the story is 8-year-old Robert Worley, a developmentally disabled child fostered by Shannon’s son, a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing. She said the boy loves airplanes, but they had difficulty finding any children’s books that carry a flying theme.

They decided to help fill that niche with a series of books devoted to their passion. She owns and flies a Piper Cherokee. He owns and flies a twin-engine Cessna. Both aircraft are based at the H.L. “Sonny” Callahan Airport.

“He’s always loved airplanes,” Shannon said, referring to her husband. “I kept telling him, ‘You’re creative. You can write a book.’” They decided they didn’t want to use a vanity press and decided to go it on their own.

Jerry and Shannon began writing the first story of the series in February 2008, and he picked up his paintbrush for the colorful illustrations. The process took about a year to complete, including starting their own small publishing company and settling on a printer.

“We went to Christine Linson about advice on publishing a book,” Shannon said. She pointed out the Fairhope artist and writer — no stranger to producing children’s books herself — “was so helpful and generous with her time. She’s been a great help.”

Jerry said, “We talked to lots of parents and kids about the story and decided on the age range for the book.”

But the tale hasn’t been without controversy. Some say Penny clearly has a subservient role in the book, something the couple said is not intentional. In fact, future planned volumes have Penny taking more of a leadership role in a company she and Leroy form.

The future volumes will feature other aircraft and types of air operations, including crop dusting, banner towing, glider tours, mercy missions and Air National Guard flight training.

“This book is 50 percent educational and 50 percent pure entertainment,” Jerry said. “It builds character. It shows you can’t get everything you want instantly.”

Shannon added, “Conditions are not always the way you would like them to be, but it’s planning and persistence that get you somewhere.”

Jerry, a New Brunswick, N.J. native, earned a master’s degree in physics from Rutgers in 1955. He went on to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology in 1966 before serving a few tours of duty aboard C-130s in Vietnam.

He retired from the Air Force at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1979, then worked as an engineer under contract to the Navy for the next 20 years. He has roughly 10,000 hours logged as a pilot in about 25 different aircraft, such as military jet fighters and large transports, as well as several general aviation planes.

Shannon was born in Opp, Ala. in 1958, where she attended high school. She later graduated from McArthur Technical College, and set out on a 30-year nursing career, which continues to this day.

They met one day in a Rite Aid Pharmacy outside of Washington, D.C., where the widowed Jerry stopped to pick up some Benadryl and Shannon went in to fill a prescription for her son, who was recovering from knee surgery. They have been happily flying together ever since.

For more information about the booksigning, call Page & Palette at (251) 928-5295, or visit www.pageandpalette.com.