A Story That Celebrates How What Makes Us Different Can Also Be Our Strength
Anthony Carroll, who goes by the nickname “Harries,” has made a name for himself and even become a celebrity for his talent and skills as a lifeguard. In his new picture book, he tells the story of how, as a child, he was bullied and made fun of for not being able to read or write. He is dyslexic.
Harries is a lifeguard on the world-famous Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia and has been a series regular on Bondi Rescue, anunscripted TV series, since its beginning 19 years ago. He has been a lifeguard for nearly 30 years and has rescued an estimated 6,000 people in that time, many of those rescues documented in Bondi Rescue.
Behind his popularity as an adult celebrity, is a child that felt out-of-place and left out because he struggled with reading and writing. Harries wasn’t able to write his own name until he was in third grade. He was discouraged when people told him he had a disability. While he struggled with school, he found that he had natural talents that he could explore. He became a fast swimmer and record-holding surfer. As an adult, when he began lifeguarding, he found that his spatial awareness and quick reflexes helped him to save lives every day. After decades lifeguarding, he has honed those talents so that he can tell if a weather change will create dangerous conditions or where a cry for help is coming from.
“Everyone has something special to offer this world,” Harries says. “Sometimes we need to search a little deeper to find whatever that gift might be.”
Harries wanted to write a picture book for kids who are struggling the way he struggled as a child. With the help of his wife Emily, who cowrote the book as he still struggles with writing, Harries’ mission is to demonstrate the power of staying positive and looking forward to find your special place in the world. He also wants to encourage kids to be accepting of others and to appreciate the differences in other people while embracing their own unique talents.
In his inspiring story, Harries wants to make clear that he sees his dyslexia as an asset in saving lives. What made it hard for him to learn to read and write are skills that help him be the best lifeguard he can be.
Book information:
Harries: The lifeguard from Bondi Beach ISBN: 9781923011205 Price: $19.99 USD | $24.99 CAD Ages: 5 to 9 Available wherever books are sold
Today, ubiquitous unsavory incentives and unnecessary diversions steal away beautiful memory-making family times. Have some of your long-trusted family ties seemed to vanish? Have you entered what sometimes feels like an inescapable revolving door? Have you felt alone and bewildered in this whirlwind world? Have you lost time to read classic literature together or to study the holy scriptures, worship, or pray? Have you noticed others who seem to be reflecting your same experiences?
Distracted moments turn into lost hours and lost days. Blink twice and the precious ones here today are gone tomorrow. Do you need a nurturing and confidence-building approach to bond with your cherished children? Are you looking for a way to get back on track to champion their thoughts, beliefs, and dreams and to be their most trusted, but silent and unnoticed, mentor?
Answers may be nearer than you think. Have you given space in your life and in your abode for precious pets? If so, then good luck is just around the next corner and is hastening to help. Indeed, soon your dogs or cats or rabbits will be scampering in or your ponies or horses will be galloping forth as silent helpers. Well, sometimes they aren’t so silent. Nevertheless, as I said in Writing about Your Pets #1, to encourage parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to bond with their ’tweens and teens, “Pets, in a way, are our greatest teachers. Write about how your pets are happy just to be with you. To sit with you in silence, to ride along with you, to walk or run with you, or to play with no regrets about yesterday and no frets about tomorrow—that’s your happy pet modeling the beautiful concept of living in the moment.”
Undeniably, pets gratefully accept whatever moments are given to them. They do not toss away today with worries. Neither do they throw away tomorrow with negative thoughts. Pets are like enlightened teachers, who have studied far and wide and have learned to guide us by their honest words, good works, noble intentions, and honorable traditions. As we care for our pets, they not only demonstrate how to live in the moment, but also they show us unconditional love which is a mostly missing commodity on planet Earth.
So, if you and your pre-teens or teens share a common bond that treasures your pets, then let your pets, their antics, behaviors, characteristics, and daily habits become the topics for fun writing adventures that you can share. Writing about Your Pets #1 offers a bountiful array of writing prompts, questions, suggestions, and ideas to help you get started. Enjoy a quiet time together, for just a bit each evening, or as often as possible, to select a topic that your young writers-in-the-making choose to tackle. Chat about the many ways to explore and conquer each chosen prompt. Make sure your ’tweens or teens feel heard and seen and adored and can go away, with your blessing, to write until their hearts are content. On your next evening, or earliest chance, listen with complete attention while your young writer reads aloud the masterpiece composed the night before.
Soon, you will find that your confidence-boosting and thought-provoking times together become better and better. In fact, you can help your young writers to sort through and solve any worries, challenges, or threats that they may have needed to tell you about earlier but felt you had no time for them. Now, with a renewed trust in you, they can adopt you as a quiet, unseen mentor. They will feel empowered.
Getting families together, in the short term, to share a meeting of minds to recognize and vanquish current problems and to prevent possible oncoming perils is a major objective of Writing about Your Pets #1: Questions & Prompts for ’Tweens, Teens & Beyond. Beyond that effort, an even more important goal is to go forward to help build the habit of creating time to read, to be aware of the potential perils that may challenge the young and their families, and to find answers together that can serve your spirits in good stead in spite of the sometimes distracting, disenchanting, and disorienting times of today.
I admire all pets; and through the years I have shared home and hearth with a menagerie of dogs, cats, rabbits, canaries, parakeets, guppies, goldfish, colorful tropical fishes of many species, and turtles. In addition, I treasured my precious maternal and paternal grandfathers for their care of animals—my maternal grandfather’s glorious golden palominos, herds of dairy cattle, abundant turkeys, and other well-cared for farm animals and my paternal grandfather’s well-treated cattle, wealth of chickens, and other farm animals, as well. Also, just so you will know, the smart and cuddly cat, who appears on the Pets #1 cover sat in my lap and helped to calm the rush of time and constant distractions, so that I finally could share these words with you. I truly hope my heartfelt words voiced here and in Pets #1 can bring good tidings all across our world with their sincere hope for peace and better times to come.
Linda Davis-Kyle, of WritingNow.com, is an internationally published health and fitness and general interest writer who has been published in Canada, the United States, the Netherlands Antilles, Ireland, England, Bulgaria, South Africa, Bahrain, Qatar, Bangladesh, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in professional journals such as Modern Drama in Canada, Bulletin of Bibliography in Great Britain, Caritas in Ireland, and Studies in English Literature in Japan and in award-winning publications such as Chem Matters, Martial Arts Training, WellBeing, and World Travel Magazine.
Today, we dive into something deeply personal and incredibly important: the latest children’s book by Olivia Von Holt, “Words Tangled.” This narrative is not just another book; it stands as a beacon of hope and a tool for empowerment, especially for young readers navigating the challenging waves of dyslexia.
The Heart of “Words Tangled”
Crafted from Olivia’s own experiences, “Words Tangled” portrays the journey of a young girl growing up in two different cultures while grappling with dyslexia. This book aims to provide more than just a story; it’s designed as a strategic aid to help children and their caregivers understand and manage learning disabilities.
Why This Book Matters for Dyslexics
Dyslexia, a language-based learning disability, significantly impacts reading, writing, and spelling. Those with dyslexia often struggle with phonological processing, making it difficult to decode words, which affects their reading fluency and comprehension. “Words Tangled” introduces characters and scenarios that resonate with these challenges, making the invisible hurdles of dyslexia visible and comprehensible.
Tools and Motivation Embedded in the Story
A core element of Olivia Von Holt’s “Words Tangled” is the integration of multi-sensory learning strategies, which are crucial for readers with dyslexia. These multi-sensory teaching methods involve using sight, sound, and touch to help connect language to words, benefiting those who struggle with traditional reading methods. This approach aligns with educational strategies that emphasize engaging multiple senses to enhance learning and retention for children with dyslexia.
Overall, “Words Tangled” by Olivia Von Holt is more than just a book; it’s a journey and a tool designed to inspire, educate, and support not only children with dyslexia but also parents, educators, and anyone involved in nurturing challenged readers. By sharing personal experiences and expert insights, Olivia aims to empower and equip her readers with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed and thrive despite their learning differences.
For those interested in exploring more or purchasing “Words Tangled,” it is available on Amazon and directly from Olivia’s website at www.oliviavonholt.com. For further inquiries, Olivia can be contacted at [email protected], and for more interactive updates, follow her on Facebook. Join Olivia Von Holt in spreading the word and making a difference. Let’s open the world of reading to all children, showing them that with the right tools and understanding, every page is within reach.
“Half of the incoming freshmen at our business schools are now being required to take a basic course in writing because they cannot write a presentable letter or report or proposal.” When David McCullough, twice Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, learned of this situation, he called it “a serious national problem.” Knowing that dedicated teachers, devoted homeschooler parents, concerned grandparents, and trusted private tutors and mentors around the world advise, coach, demonstrate, and practice their young learners in the art of writing, you shake your head and say, “No. It just can’t be.”
Feeling Perplexed by Such an Observation
McCullough, of course, is not fabricating a wild story. Consequently, after a bit, you acquiesce. After all your hard work to teach your students, though, you not only feel puzzled, but also you feel betrayed. You lament right out loud, “The very thought of such grim results seems impossible.” Your associates, who, like you, also worked diligently to teach their young learners to write well – they had believed – agree. Another member of your teaching team asks, “How in the world is this astonishingly dismal result possible?” After your thoughts settle, your team begins to ask, “Well, then, what measures can we implement to assuage this predicament in the future?”
Searching for Solutions
Once you accept McCullough’s words as true, your teaching team concludes that perhaps your young learners are in the half who mastered what each of you had presented. After all, you constantly had taught your young learners to think positively, to visualize their success, and to expect the best. Now, momentarily, you and your colleagues were thinking negatively.
Teaching the Parts of Speech in a Fun Way
By beginning to enumerate what you had done to prepare your students to write well, you began to get on track. You had taught lesson after lesson to impart to your students grammar – the parts of speech and their definitions -using not only color-coded words but also colorful memorable characters. You also enumerated and explained the cooperative roles and relationships of the parts of speech. Each member of your teaching team also had relentlessly reviewed the mechanics of the English language—capitalizations, punctuations, contractions, and spelling. Your students were so versed in grammar and mechanics that some of them told you they reviewed your lessons in their dreams at night. Your basic teaching lessons and exercise practices had served your students well. Yes. You now begin to realize that your methods had blessed the memories of your learners.
Using the Power of Colorful Mind Maps to Bolster Memory
Because Mind Maps can so beautifully organize information succinctly, they enhance memory with impressive staying power. Their branches relate to each other in such a way that each and every branch helps to build the topic of the particular map. For example, the young learners can name a mind map as “The Parts of Speech.” Then, they can handwrite the parts of speech—verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections—onto its separate branches. Using attractive colors, drawing, and handwriting in cursive or hand printing join forces to make learning the Parts of Speech not only fun but also memorable.
Note: The Mind Map, as a larger printable .pdf, is available at WritingNow.comgratis.
Connecting New Information with What They Know Already
When students latch onto information that enlightens them, new related information fastens, in a sense, with the data already present. The concepts then, in a way, begin forming a net to grab, hold, and store more input. Each new learning experience that can hook with the items already present continue the wonderful arrangement. The more relevant and related information students learn, the more they can learn, digest, and absorb. David Gamon, PhD, and Allen D. Bragdon, authors of Learn Faster & Remember More put the thought more eloquently, “How well you remember depends on how much you already know.” Therefore, the incremental lessons you had taught fostered strong memories. Plus, connecting the three powerful forces—memorable mind maps, drawing, and cursive handwriting—creates a mighty memory treasure.
Enhancing Memory with Cursive Handwriting
Indeed, you had empowered the memories of your young learners a fine way that some in society today seem to have forgotten. They had loved drawing colorful mind maps and then labeling the parts of speech in cursive. Your students had loved handwriting their assignments. The main trouble your students had was deciding which Parts of Speech Mind Map they liked more. Some liked a Words and Images Mind Map that defined the parts of speech. Others liked a Roles and Relationships Mind Map that showed how all the parts worked together. Others favored a Composing Sentences Mind Map or a Composing Paragraphs Mind Map to steer them to success with their forthcoming writing assignments. More advanced students resonated with the Writing Tips Mind Map. In all cases, they had loved that the vivid colorful characters and color-coded words that made learning not only endearing but also enduring. WritingNow.com provides printable versions of the noted Mind Maps and additional ones from its ebooks to download and enjoy as a gratis bonus.
You did not throw aside handwriting as outdated or outmoded. You did not see handwriting as some relic from the past. Instead, you honored its use for sustaining memory. Moreover, helping your young learners to enjoy practicing their cursive handwriting yielded lasting profits for them.
Speaking for the Practice of Cursive Handwriting
Neuroscientist Claudia Aguirre, PhD, equates the action of handwriting with “meditation” because she says it perpetuates “mindfulness.” Angelika Troller-Janesch, Vice President of the Carinthian Dyslexia Association in Austria explains that taking notes by hand supports memory and helps students preserve what they learn. Livia Pailer-Duller, PhD, CEO of the Austrian Dyslexia Association, a colleague of Troller-Janesch, concurs and shares that handwriting fosters fine motor skills. Plus, she says handwriting boosts the entire learning process. Both teachers emphasize the importance of not allowing digital experiences with computers, tablets, and cellphones to bring about the extinction of the art of cursive handwriting.
Teaming Handwriting with Computer Generating Your Compositions
While computer-generated assignments certainly speed the reading for hardworking teachers, it can be a useful practice if young learners will compose their first drafts by hand. Then they can type their work using a device of their choice. Doing both processes likely team up to expand their memory of the material. Multiple viewing gives time to ponder what they first composed. Plus, as the students continue in this way, errors very well may pop up and beg for correction.
Consequently, students learn in an instinctive way that they cannot simply sit down and write or type their essays in half an hour and think they have finished. They must learn to revise. This polishing practice attunes them quickly to the idea that it takes work to make their essays smoother and smoother. Revising also enhances preserving information and critical thinking.
Learning to Plan for Their Next Day
In your listing of the many aspects, concepts, and projects you had used to help secure their successful writing, you and your teaching team had encouraged your young learners to let each sunset, remind them to pause and reflect on their day. After their appraisal of the passing day, you suggested that they plan for their forthcoming day to help bring big dividends. If upon review some days their efforts went awry, you, doubtless, helped them learn to release the negativity. You pointed out that counting the aspects of their day that did go well would be of great use. It was your hope that helping them to make it a habit to write out their plans for their coming day would become a lifetime ally. You also hoped that if they would allow the sunset to be their daily reliable reminder “to be grateful for the passing day and to prepare gratefully for an even better day tomorrow” doing so could foster their good health emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Finally, you hoped that creating mind maps, engaging in fun drawing, and using cursive handwriting, along with so many other worthy strategies that you taught with care would weave together to help your young learners love their writing and make it their best friend for life.
About the Author
Linda Davis-Kyle is a fitness, health, education, and general interest writer whose articles have appeared in professional journals such as Modern Drama in Canada, Notes & Queries in the UK, Caritas in Ireland, and Studies in English Literature in Japan and in periodicals such as WellBeing in Australia, The Star in Bangladesh, and Healthy Options in New Zealand. She is the author of the e-book Getting Ready to Write: Reviewing English Grammar.
Sources
Aguirre, Claudia. “Does writing by hand sharpen your creativity?”
McCullough, David. “Dialogue with David McCullough (on John Adams).” With Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Library of Congress. Special Event, February 12, 2014. youtube.com, April 3, 2014. 59:50-1:00:13 and !:00:18-1:00:32.
Accessed 18 April 2020
Pailer-Duller, Livia. Personal communication. 30 January 2021. Troller-Janesch, Angelika. Personal communication. 30 January 2021.
Feeling Smarter and Smarter: Discovering the Inner-Ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/LD, ADD/ADHD, and Phobias/Anxiety by Harold N. Levinson, MD
In this groundbreaking book written for both lay and professional readers, Dr. Harold Levinson, a renowned psychiatrist and clinical researcher, provides his long-awaited follow-up work about truly understanding and successfully treating children and adults with many and diverse dyslexia-related disorders such as those found on the cover.
This fascinating, life-changing title is primarily about helping children who suffer from varied combinations and severities of previously unexplained (“inner-ear/cerebellar-determined”) symptoms resulting in difficulties with:
reading, writing, spelling, math, memory, speech, sense of direction and time
grammar, concentration/activity-level, balance and coordination
headaches, nausea, dizziness, ringing ears, and motion-sickness
frustration levels and feeling dumb, ugly, klutzy, phobic, and depressed
impulsivity, cutting class, dropping out of school, and substance abuse
bullying and being bullied as well as anger and social interactions
later becoming emotionally traumatized and scarred dysfunctional adults
Feeling Smarter and Smarter is thus also about and for the millions of frustrated and failing adults who are often overwhelmed by similar and even more complicated symptoms—as well as for their dedicated healers. Having laid the initial foundations for his many current insights in an earlier bestseller, Smart But Feeling Dumb, Dr. Levinson now presents a compelling range of enlightening new cases and data as well as a large number of highly original discoveries—such as his challenging illumination that: “All the above dyslexia-related manifestations are primarily ‘inner-ear’ or cerebellar-vestibular—not cerebrally or thinking-brain— determined and so do not impair IQ and have a favorable outcome.”
And an “ingeniously clear” and explanatory theory of symptom formation, including the triggering of phobias and anxiety, has been formulated by Dr. Levinson using a simple analogy: “I can rapidly but transiently induce the entire dyslexia syndrome in perfectly normal individuals by spinning them around until their brain signals become dizzy or scrambled. And then mandating they perform varied reading, writing, conentration-demanding…tasks.” In other words, dyslexia is recognized to be a complex multi-symptomatic syndrome encompassing all of the above mentioned symptoms—and many more. Clearly, it’s not just a pure reading disorder as now also recognized by the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) diagnostic manual, DSM-V.
This syndrome results when diverse normal thinking brain and related processors fail to descramble the “dizzy” or distorted signals received from a fine-tuning signal impairment within the inner-ear and its supercomputer—the cerebellum, man’s lower “little brain.”[1]
Most important, all the dyslexia/inner-ear based impairments and their symptoms were discovered by Dr. Levinson to respond rapidly and often dramatically when treated with simple and safe inner-ear enhancing medications and nutrients—thus enabling bright but dumb-feeling children and adults to feel smarter and smarter. In addition, by clarifying and more effectively utilizing a diverse range of educational and non-medical therapies which enhance inner-ear and/or cerebral compensation, all dyslexics can be best helped.
Using the above mentioned spinning analogy in order to better explain improvements, Levinson states: “The dyslexia-like or inner-ear/cerebellar syndrome triggered by spinning normal individuals till dizzy signals arise can be minimized or prevented by pretreatment and/or treatment immediately following symptom formation, using anti-vertigo or inner-ear-enhancing meds and non-med therapies.”
Additionally, Dr. Levinson discovered and similarly treated the relatively “minor” inner-ear/cerebellar dysfunction found associated with ASD or autism as well as traumatic brain injury and other major disorders. This enabled overall improvements, albeit the primary impairments persisted.
In summary, this book’s content is highly unique. Its many patient-derived insights are fully capable of explaining and successfully treating all the known dyslexic symptoms and their determining mechanisms as well as clarifying all data and theories characterizing the dyslexia syndrome—including the frequently overlapping attention deficits and phobias. Significantly, most all of Dr Levinson’s highly original inner-ear/cerebellar concepts—considered “decades ahead of their time”— have been independently validated via hundreds of referenced neuroimaging and other studies.
To order this “life-improving” book from Amazon or its publisher, Springer, log onto Dr. Levinson’s website: dyslexiaonline.com
1 This theory was considered “ingenious” because it replaced and resolved several long held mistaken concepts—previously leading to scientific dead ends and paradoxes. For example, it was mistakenly believed:1-that dyslexia was a pure reading disorder of primary cerebral origin, despite its typical “symptomatic impurity” and the absence of cerebral neurological signs as well as the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar signs, and 2-that all the many non-reading symptoms found among dyslexics were considered “co-morbid”—meaning they were/are believed due to separate non-dyslexic cerebral-related processing impairments—rather than due to a common inner-ear/cerebellar origin akin to the way the diabetic syndrome is caused by a common underlying insulin deficiency. So the illuminated paradoxes to be resolved were: 1-How could dyslexics have normal and even genius IQ’s and improve if they had so many separate and irreparable cerebral processing impairments? They couldn’t! Indeed, their IQ’s would approach zero, 2-How could dyslexia be due to a primary and irreversible cerebral impairment akin to Alexia in the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar neurological signs and mechanism? It can’t! , 3-How could spinning, which destabilizes only the inner-ear/cerebellar signals, create all the dyslexia-related symptoms and how might inner-ear-enhancing meds “cure” them? This would be impossible if the dyslexia syndrome was of a primary cerebral origin affecting multiple sites of primary brain functioning.
It was about three years ago when I started doing my dyslexic blogs and pod casts with comedian Mark Simmons. For me at the time it did not matter whether people read or listened to it (other than my mum of course) because I was just doing it for me. I guess it was a way of putting pen to paper or pressing record and just getting stuff off my chest and putting them out there in a notional black hole that maybe one day someone may dip into.
However, it surprised me when people started to comment on them and started to engage feeding back their stories. It soon turned out that I was not the only one that was forced to wear coloured glasses and eye patches and being placed in classes branded as special needs. It made me feel better in myself that I was not the only one who was going through this.
So from that I decided to write to my dyslexic man crush, Jamie Oliver! Why wouldn’t he be anyone’s man crush, he is driven, successful, focused, you could take him home to your mum and you would not go hungry!!!
Mouse in the Manger was illustrated and formatted by Ashley Otis. She incorporated the following elements that would be appropriate for children, and make it easier for them to read:
Colored font that is simple and enlarged. Arial font is a good choice.
The lines should be spaced apart, so the eye tracks on each line.
There should be no “breaks” or hyphens in words at the end of a line.
No right justification that might create irregular spacing between words.
Using short simple sentences is how rhyming stanzas are constructed, so a rhyming story is already kid-friendly.
I write by inspiration, so how did I get started on Mouse in the Manger? I remembered the mangers in the stalls in Grandpa’s barn where I released two baby mice. Here’s the whole story:
Upstairs in the big farmhouse where I grew up there was a large storage room. Halfway down the long spooky dark hall was a door on the left with a step down into the storage space.
A pile of old mattresses way back in the corner gave me a place to curl up to read or dream, or listen to the blowflies buzzing by the window. I was lying on the mattresses reading a Dick Tracey Big Little Book when I heard a faint squeaking. I traced the sound to a chest of drawers on the other side of the room.
The squeaking stopped when I slowly pulled the bottom drawer way out. There it was! Tucked way in the back of the bottom drawer was a wad of shredded paper, wool, and cloth bits fashioned into a perfect rectangle so it exactly fit the space. I hoped the shredded paper wasn’t one of my favorite comic books! Was this a mouse nest in our chest of drawers?
I carefully parted one end of the nest, and pulled the top back to see inside. Wow! There, nestled in the smooth interior compartment were two tiny baby mice. Their pink skin had no fur, and their eyes were not yet open.
Oh, oh! We had caught a mouse in a trap in the work room downstairs. Could that have been their mother? I called Mom to see. Mom told me that it didn’t matter if mother mouse was gone or not, because now that I had touched the nest, my scent would be there, and she would not return.
Obviously, mice were too destructive to have living in the house. And, it would be impossible to feed such tiny things, even if we did want to save them.
I didn’t figure on Mom’s incredible compassion for little creatures, and her ingenuity. My sister had a baby doll with its own little baby bottle that actually worked. With Mom’s patience and steady hand, she managed to entice the baby mice to drink a milk and honey formula from that little bottle. Daddy just shook his head in disbelief. Mom nursed and cared for those tiny mice until their fur had grown, their eyes were open, and they were trying to climb out of their box.
I let them go in the barn next to the mangers in the stalls where Grandpa had kept the big work horses. The barn was the perfect place. They could do no harm, and there was no one to harm them. They scampered free to live happily ever after!
Hmmmm, a mouse in the manger. A rhyme popped into my head. What would a mouse be doing in the manger? Looking for food, of course. As the story developed, I wondered if there were too many children’s books about the Christmas story. Researching, I discovered mine was different; it was in rhyme, scripturally correct, and reasonably credible.
My books have study guides with questions and answers which the Executive Director of the American Dyslexia Association told us also helped dyslexic children with comprehension and retention.
Ashley Otis began working on the illustrations, formatted the book, and got it ready to print.
My children’s rhyming story picture book, Danny the Dragon, was at the Page Design department of my publisher when I picked up the Winter Bulletin of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. (SCBWI) An article by Dr. Theodore Cohen PhD, “Are Authors Giving Up On 20% of Their Readers?” caught my attention.
Dr. Cohen discussed things that helped children with language-based learning disabilities, especially those with dyslexia.
Some of the things that Dr. Cohen mentioned, like a font that keeps space between letters, (sans serif) spacing out lines of text, and enlarging the text, I had already implemented in my previous books. These readability elements help any child, not just those struggling to read. Prompted by his article, I informed our publisher we wanted Arial font which is sans serif, and no right justification which can create irregular spacing between words.
An email to the American Dyslexia Association asking for suggestions for making my book “dyslexic friendly,” resulted in a response confirming our choice of font, and giving a suggestion to avoid “noise” behind letters, such as text over artwork. I was pleased that the American Dyslexia Association offered to look at my books.
I was delighted to receive a message from American Dyslexia Association with the information that they had “tested” my books on school children, especially one girl said “she was delighted.” In fact, the girl asked for two of the books to be read again! My books, especially Danny the Dragon, are now approved by the American Dyslexia Association.
A serendipity occurred when I went online to see what Open Dyslexic font looked like. I found an article by dyslexia expert Dr. Guinevere Eden, a professor at Georgetown University, and director of its Center for the Study of Learning. In the context of discussing the lack of research validating “dyslexic friendly” fonts, Dr. Eden stated: “The fundamental problem of dyslexia is in mapping the shapes of letters to the right sound units or phonemes.”
The ”right sound units or phonemes” jumped out at me, because I had already learned that rhyming helps children make the connection for phonemic awareness! And, my books are stories in rhyme!
Another search of rhyming and dyslexia uncovered research by Usha Goswami, Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at Cambridge. Dr. Goswami asserts: “Children who are dyslexic struggle with speech rhythm.” She suggests that children can overcome dyslexia by learning nursery rhymes, dancing, and singing, because the condition is caused by lack of rhythm patterns sin the brain.
Rhyming with rhythm is what I do!
Danny the Dragon is a rhyming story picture book with a rhythmic beat!
Robert Z Hicks, known as “Mr. Bob” is an award winning author and publisher of children’s rhyming picture books.
Coming from a career of teaching college, how did you get started writing children’s books? Had you always dreamed of someday writing children’s books?
No, it never occurred to me to write children’s books. I thought I was retired after teaching speech communication for 24 years at the University of Hawaii. But, after watching my wife Betty chase a green tree toad around the living room trying to capture it under a paper cup, I started reminiscing about critters I enjoyed as a child growing up on my grandfather’s farm in Michigan in the 40’s. I felt inspired to write a rhyming poem based on my memories.
A friend encouraged me to write more stories, and there followed a flood of inspiration of rhyming stories triggered by memories of my childhood experiences.
How many stories did you write?
About 40. We took manuscripts of Tommie Turtle’s Secret, Mouse in the Manger, and several other stories to the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference in 2005 to find out what writing and publishing books entailed. Surprised and encouraged that the stories won Best Submission for Children’s Writing, we decided to publish my first book, “Tommie Turtle’s Secret”.
What makes your books different from other children’s books out there?
The stories are written in rhyme, and each stanza is accompanied by an illustration that helps the child visualize the story and what the words are saying.
As a teacher, I add value to my books by including a study guide with questions to test comprehension, and comments to highlight things to be learned.
I discovered research that early learning of rhymes increases phonemic awareness, and improves the ability to read. Reading nursery rhymes and rhyming stories to babies and young children helps establish the ear-brain connection for discriminating sound units.
I asked Crystal Bowman, my mentor, friend, a mother, and successful children’s author, what she thought of rhyme, which she uses in her books.
Crystal Bowman’s perspective on rhythm, rhyme, and reading:
“I know that babies are born with a strong sense of rhythm. They respond to rocking, repetition, and music. They naturally clap their hands and move to music and rhythm.
Text written with repetition and rhyme is a help to a struggling reader because the repetition helps them learn new words, and the rhyme helps them with pronunciation. (they know what the word needs to sound like)”
I was excited to learn that rhyming helps children read more effectively, It gave purpose and direction for the inspiration of the stories God gave me, and for my gift for rhyme. I wasn’t looking for another career, but I am delighted to have a new purpose and cause to pursue in my life.
What is Tommie Turtle’s secret?
Tommie’s secret is the story of the day he raced speedy Hoppy Bunny to teach the bunny valuable lessons about friendship. A surprise twist at the end highlights moral values of forgiveness, and that being nice, not bragging and teasing, is the way to make friends.
Questions and commentary at the end of the book test comprehension, stimulate critical thinking, and provide a basis for discussion of the effect of bragging and teasing on relationships. Parents can also point out that by focusing on the abilities Tommie had, not on what he couldn’t do, Tommie could still enter the race.
“Tommie Turtle’s Secret,” won Best Children’s, and Book of the Year in the 2008 Florida Writer’s Royal Palm Awards competition.
How many books have you published?
I’ve published three picture books, “Tommie Turtle’s Secret,” “Mouse In the Manger,” and “Danny the Dragon,” and an ebook, “Once I Was A Kid, With the Wild Things On The Farm”.
Are you going to publish more children’s books?
Absolutely! My heart’s desire is to use my gift of rhyme to help children learn to read and to develop a love for reading!
