ADA has endorsed another award-winning rhyming story picture book by Robert Z. Hicks, “The Ladybug Known as Lil”. The story has the flavor of the wild west in the pumpkin patch. Ant bursts in the door of the Pumpkin Club to warn the bugs that aphids are invading the garden, and on their way to Pumpkin Town!
Ladybug Lil, singer at the Pumpkin Club, rides her roach through the night to find sheriff Bugaroo to save Pumpkin town from the dreaded Aphid Gang. Will the sheriff and his posse reach Pumpkin Town in time?
Will Lil see her beloved Pumpkin Club destroyed by the invading Aphids?
Told in rhyme, “The Ladybug Known as Lil” is good for early readers. The THINGS TO LEARN section has photos and information about the real insects that are characters in the story.
Questions and Answers test comprehension.
“The Ladybug Known as Lil”‘s trophy joins Mr. Bob’s collection of awards for “Tommie Turtle’s Secret”, “Mouse in the Manger”, and “Danny the Dragon”, all of which have met ADA’s standards for formatting and quality.
Ashley Otis, the artist who illustrates Bob’s books, has done a beautiful job of bringing Ladybug Lil to life!
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 Writers’ 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, 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!
On behalf of 3 Paws Up, It is my honor to share our story with the readers of the American Dyslexia Association:
My name is Karolyn Smith, I am the 2014 Veterans of the Year for the 71st District of California, Author of ‘Sophia the Bionic Cat’, Public Speaker and 3D inventor.
I was born and raised in San Diego and am the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and the granddaughter of two WWII Veterans. For the longest time as a youth, I found my calling as a velodrome cyclist and went to my first Olympic Trials at 19, but failed to make the team. A year later, I would be invited to move down to Australia, where I would be the only woman racing on behalf of the USA. That year abroad at such a young age gave me a lifetime of experience that would help me out later in life.
Shortly after the horrific events unfolded on September 11, 2001, I would hang up my bicycle and, at the tender age of 29, enlist in the United States Army as a Military Police Officer. As I found myself the oldest enlistee in basic training, I also found myself the most advanced, which allowed me to experience leadership responsibilities and advanced training that my peers didn’t experience. I would graduate top of my class and 18 weeks later be stationed in Hauau, Germany with the most historic Military Police unit in the Army, the 18th MP Brigade. Six months later, I would deploy.
In April of 2004, with the 127th Military Police Company (709th MP Bat, 18th MP Brigade), I deployed in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and would break the first of many glass ceilings in my life; I was a crew serve machine gunner. After 13 roadside bombs, mortar attacks, and sniper attacks that took the life of my Team Leader….we suffered, I suffered. When we came home a year later…We had lost two.
I came home with injuries, PTS(d), spinal injuries, and a mild traumatic brain injury that were left untreated by the VA system because they were not used to a woman who had been in combat. After 11 years of suffering, my life was saved by a private non-profit called Operation MEND UCLA, which provided advanced medical care, including a bio-tech spinal fusion, which is creating my own genetic bone back into my spine. Once that searing pain was gone, a little kitten by the name of Sophia waddled, skipped, and hopped into my life…with her best friend in tow.
Sophia was an 8-day-old premature kitten found abandoned in a field here in San Diego. She was found with her umbilical cord wrapped around her paw and with no mother, food, or shelter found around her. Sophia was taken to the San Diego Humane Society, where an amputation was performed of her right rear paw, but because she was born premature and it was evident she never received the vital mother’s milk, the amputation was proving too much, and she was not recovering from the surgery. On that same day, a young male kitten was brought into the shelter as part of a litter. This young male was pulled out of his litter and placed with Sophia because the Nursery Advisory saw something in him that was unique and thought he might be able to help encourage little Sophia; he was then placed in her enclosure, and something magical happened.
Leonidas snuggled up to Sophia and never left her side for nearly a week. He could often be found cleaning her ear of her amputated side, but not her ear of her un-amputated side. Within a week, Sophia began to lift her head…and then she began to eat…then she began to crawl….Soon, they would both be put up for adoption as a bonded pair.
As I was recovering from my surgery, I saw a Facebook post from the San Diego Humane Society, and there were these two faces- two little fluffy, furry faces cuddling each other, and then I read the story and cried. I cried because Sophia’s story was my story; just replace the name, and I was drawn to her. I called the Humane Society and asked about adopting her, and they said I would need to adopt both, and I was hooked- who would break up a sweetheart couple anyway! When I walked into the Humane Society, they knew who I was by that time, as I had already been selected as the 2014 Veteran of the Year for the 71st District of California. They created the byline “Disabled Veteran adopts disabled Kitten,” and in partnership with the Humane Society and Fresh Step cat litter, we would create our first PSA commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY2F1vUju3c
As my twelve-year career in high-threat risk mitigation (in and out of the military) would teach me, I knew that Sophia’s good leg would, at some point, have to fail. While my degrees were not in engineering, they were in Homeland Security and Risk Mitigation. What I did know is that if you use what you do know, and not focus on what you don’t know, you can apply skills and help solve any issues that come your way. I started researching companies that created prosthetics for animals and was amazed that no one had created a prosthetic for cats. So in partnership with Fablab San Diego, I created the first ever 3D printed Prototype prosthetic for cats, and started with little Sophia! The first one in history!
Every time I went to the lab, there would be kids asking about the story, which gave me the idea of writing a children’s book, as I don’t have kids of my own; my injuries prevented that gift for me. So I created “Sophia the Bionic Cat” https://www.amazon.com/Sophia-Bionic-Cat-Karolyn-Smith/dp/1684193451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513714785&sr=8-1&keywords=sophia+the+bionic+cat which is now also available on Barnes and Noble (online and in stores!). This book is based on the true story of how this journey of mine, Sophia, and Leonidas unfolded in a way that we hope inspires children, but we took one more step. We found a person who created the “open-dyslexic” font, and our book, to this point, is the only true story children’s book that is written in this font. I chose this method of font because when I get tired, I noticed that when I am reading, my brain injury can often act like it’s dyslexic, which can be a result of a traumatic brain injury, and that is what I deal with. I wanted my book to show a range of topics, but in a way that lends power to the topic instead of powerless feelings about the topic. So, while reading the book, if the reader has dyslexia, they will read the book the way I wrote it; if they don’t, they won’t notice anything other than a true story about how technology and love help overcome.
From our book, we created 3 Paws Up, an approved 501(c)3 here in San Diego that will have ‘Ambassadors’ hand deliver our book (and other inspirational true stories that we help other Veterans create) to children in critical care hospitals, nationwide.
I’m writing the second book in Sophia’s series as we have just partnered with the Colorado School of Mines, the number 2 school of engineering in the US as we continue to enhance Sophia’s prototype so other animals around the nation can also have a better life through what we discover. I spend my time now as a public speaker telling my story, and I am honored to be able to stand on stages around the nation and share my life, it’s a way for me to heal and a way to open the minds of those who would never consider using the ‘open-dyslexic’ font in their projects, but now we get to talk not just about me, but about all of you, and I’m honored to be able to help do that. I can’t begin to express my truest thanks to the American Dyslexia Association for accepting our project, ‘Sophia the Bionic Cat’ as worthy of the ADA’s seal of approval. It’s through innovative projects and collaborative partnerships that we can create dialogue that can bring the best solutions.
