JUNE 2023
Our June line-up includes interviews with Betsy Coffeen, Dwayne Reed, Thassanee Wanick, T. I. Frazier, Maria Castellucci Moore, Cindy L. Rodriguez, Kate Pugsley, and Lisa Westberg Peters!
Larissa Juliano opens her teaching toolbox and lets the words flow, Conrad Storad talks about colorful moths, Judy Newman makes way for Father's Day, Deedee Cummings celebrates her right to read, and Nick Spake reviews The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Power Up Edition!
Check out our newest book reviews and summer reading list! It's all inside!
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Story Monsters Ink® is sponsored by Once Upon a Dance and Dr. Joy Pillay
FEATURES
One to Read:
Betsy Coffeen
by N.C.
Betsy Coffeen’s books are evergreen, youthful in spirit yet address complex world issues. Her message is a relevant one for most of us, young and old, who are trying to figure out this thing called life and do a decent job at it.
Coffeen is dedicated to spreading awareness of empathy and not only that, but how to use it to improve our lives and our world. “In my opinion, empathy is the key for resolving many problems that exist in our world today,” she says. This, along with another great constant that most of us experience—change—sets the foundation for Coffeen’s new book, Cate and the Garden Bandits, which follows in the footsteps of her first book, Cate’s Magic Garden.
According to Coffeen, “I wrote both stories to teach the importance of empathy and non-judgment. I chose Cate to characterize the powerful metaphor of a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly to emphasize the importance of empathy, resilience, hard work, and patience—and that nothing worthwhile comes easy.”
In the story, “Cate is at first terrified and angry at a large bumblebee for invading her garden until she realizes that he was only taking the petals from her garden to feed his family and in the process, he was also helping to pollinate her garden. Interdependence, along with empathy, is key in our ever-growing global world,” Coffeen says.
For Coffeen, Cate’s character is helping to teach the sometimes underrated soft skills of being kind to your fellow human, and being able to put oneself into their shoes, so to speak, before choosing how one will react, especially in situations that involve difficult emotions such as anger and frustration. This may be a long shot, but it does sometimes seem like no matter how old we are, sometimes it is just hard to know how to act in tough predicaments involving others, and having effective coping methods just makes sense.
That is why Coffeen targets the youngest among us, to assert an early knowledge of how to communicate and treat others. She says, “Children are so teachable at this age. Research has consistently demonstrated the importance of early childhood, from birth to age six, as the most formative years. If we can teach young children how our world and everything in it is interconnected along with this concept of empathy, it will help create a kinder future world.”
Dwayne Reed
America’s Favorite Rapping Teacher is Back with a New Book
by Marcella Comerford • photo by Michael Hicks
Dwayne Reed knows how to get the attention of children, and not only that, instill an excitement for school and learning and assuage trepidations. As anyone who regularly teaches, cares for, or parents children, this may just be a superpower. Reed went viral in 2016 when he released his music video Welcome to the 4th Grade, and it’s been gravy from there—maybe a little overwhelming sometimes, but a stupendous success story for sure.
After the song went viral, Reed says, “I was catapulted into a national spotlight as “America’s Favorite Rapping Teacher.” Since then, I’ve been active on social media, I’ve continued to make dope music videos, and I’ve strived to be the educator I believe my scholars need.”
Going from an ordinary teacher to an online superstar must be an experience in itself, and Reed says, “The attention has been interesting to me. I feel as if some people want to raise you up just to see you fall, as if your failure is their primary source of joy. It’s actually pretty weird, and I think, sad for them. But, there are many more people who have been inspired by the moves I’ve been able to make, so it’s been a mission of mine to focus on their support and love!”
This ability to change the challenge to the reward is one of Reed’s strengths, and one he passes on using his newfound celebrity status. “As far as the rewards that have come from my success, the greatest one has been the ability to do cool things for more people. With more eyeballs and visibility on you, typically, that produces more chances to do good for the people who mean something to you. Because I’ve been blessed, I’ve been able to bless my students and their families with some dope stuff and nice opportunities. That’s super rewarding for me,” Reed says, clearly keeping the bigger picture at the forefront.
Teaching is a profession that seems to offer up a lot of opportunities for interesting and surprising moments as well as very moving ones, and Reed says, “One of my more memorable moments as a teacher came during my first year of teaching. At the beginning of the school year, I had taught my fifth graders about foreshadowing. Most of them seemed to grasp the concept, but it just wasn’t clicking for one scholar in particular, Sydney (name changed to keep anonymity). Syd was smart as a whip, but this foreshadowing business kept stumping her. Fast forward to the end of the year and my entire class went on a field trip to watch the movie, Wonder.”
Thassanee Wanick
Inspires a New Generation of Changemakers
by Marcella Comerford
Thassanee Wanick seems to be something of a real-life superhero, both in the sustainable business world and beyond. With an incredible array of accomplishments from an award of Royal Honour from His Majesty the King of Thailand to speaking at numerous prestigious government and business events and educational institutions, to driving a dog sled above the Artic Circle in Norway and adopting a mom and baby elephant in Bangkok, she now graces the literary world with her sustainability-focused children’s book.
She has also traveled to 50 countries and lived in eight of them, is a biologist, holds a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, founded Green Building Council Brazil, and somehow managed to find the time to sit on the board of the World Green Building Council. She was also a senior diplomat—Hon. Consul-General of Thailand for Brazil—for 25 years.
Wanick was a keynote speaker during the First Green Inaugural Ball of President Barack Obama in 2009 and was invited to attend a private presentation and dinner hosted by none other than His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) to discuss sustainable urban development at St. James Palace in London, England. And all of this is truly just the tip of the iceberg of her remarkable career and life thus far in sustainability studies and business.
After all of this high-level work in impressive and very professional adult fields, how did Wanick come to start writing children’s literature? Well, there were a few steps involved.
As a dedicated student of anything that sparks her curiosity, Wanick signed up for creative writing courses at the University of Oxford, England, completing four courses over three years. Next, she signed up for a course in writing children picture books at the University of Cambridge, England.
The book she wrote after this course, Sam the Eco Robot & the Ghost Nets, was destined to be published. But Wanick says, not without some disappointments. “When I sent it out to a few publishers, I received polite regrets, which I expected, but still, it was very humbling and very sad.”
T. I. Frazier
Encourages Young Readers to Follow Their Dreams
by Lindsey Giardino
T. I. Frazier describes himself as a storyteller at heart. “Both culturally and in my nature, I have always loved to entertain, teach, and inspire through stories,” he says.
Today, that facet of the Michigan-based author’s identity shines through as he writes inspirational books and children’s tales. His debut picture book, Lauren the Cow, follows a calf that is determined to become a jumping cow when she grows up. She has to work hard and train if she is going to accomplish her dream. In the end, she discovers that she can do something even better.
This story teaches children to believe in themselves and to try new things, even if it has never been done before. It encourages the spirit of exploring yourself and to push beyond what you think is possible.
Frazier’s wife, Lauren, served as the inspiration for the book. “She wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant due to complications from a surgery earlier in her life,” he explains. “Shortly after her mother died of cancer, we found out we were pregnant. She was both excited and sad during this time in her life.”
Frazier says on one particular day, Lauren was feeling especially challenged by everything, including some things going on with work. “I wanted to inspire her to never give up,” he says. “I created this story as a way of encouraging her to not just keep going, but to aspire to even greater feats.”
Maria Castellucci Moore
Invites Kids to Discover the World Around Them
by Lindsey Giardino
Maria Castellucci Moore feels incredibly grateful to have grown up in a very Italian household full of love, homemade everything, and lots of family around at all times.
“I rode horses, learned tennis and piano, and danced ballet,” she says. “I feel fortunate to have been exposed to so many creative outlets. Being first generation American, I felt and saw the sacrifices that my parents made to give us a warm and healthy upbringing. It has certainly shaped the woman I am today.”
One of Moore’s current creative outlets is writing. Her debut picture book, Vivienne in Paris, follows a young Parisian girl on a journey through Paris. The book centers on mindfulness and provides insight into how the surrounding world can move you.
Moore found her inspiration for Vivienne in Paris after her own self-discovery journey, in which she realized happiness and authentic joy is created for and felt differently by everyone.
“Vivienne, being my favorite girl’s name, and Paris, being my favorite city, deemed the perfect match to create this story,” she explains. “The book showcases the wonderment and awe that can be felt by pausing to use your five senses and notice the world directly around you.”
Cindy L. Rodriguez
Pens a Touching Tale of Tradition and Family
by Lindsey Giardino
Cindy L. Rodriguez’s recent picture book, Three Pockets Full: A Story of Love, Family, and Tradition, is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Grand Prize in the 2022 Story Monsters Approved Book Awards program.
There’s good reason for all the recognition.
Rodriguez explains that she very much wanted to write something centered on the Latinx community, so she researched different topics to see what hadn’t been done before. “I couldn’t find a story specifically about the guayabera and its history, so I decided to play with that,” she said. “My dad always had guayaberas, so I have fond memories of him wearing them, and they have such a rich history. So many children have blended families (as do I), which is why I decided on the storyline about Beto and his mami getting remarried.”
Three Pockets Full marks Rodriguez’s first picture book. She’s also penned young adult novels including Volleyball Ace and Gymnastics Payback.
Rodriguez first wrote fiction and “very bad poetry” in diaries and journals as a young girl—a time when she also spent many hours in the public library, checking out as many books as she could.
“I first started thinking about writing a novel when I was taking a graduate course on the life and work of Emily Dickinson,” she shares. “I became completely fascinated by her. I was also a teacher at the time and a person who had been living with and managing depression. All of those pieces came together when I started writing what became When Reason Breaks, my young adult novel that was published by Bloomsbury in 2015.”
Independence Day, Juneteenth, and the RIGHT to Read
by Deedee Cummings
One of the things I am most proud of that we do here at Make A Way Media is teach people how to better communicate and live in peace. I believe peace is a language that must be taught to humans from a young age. Probably the most important component of the language is not anything containing words at all. It is the ability to practice empathy and active listening.
For the kid crowd, we talk about this a lot in the K Club—how to be a better human and how to better develop empathy. We all really should make much more of a concerted effort to listen more than we talk. But we are a nation of talkers who feel entitled to speak our minds. Social media has only made that belief stronger.
Contrary to popular opinion, we do not have to weigh in on every subject. Sometimes we can just listen and when the speaker is done, it is okay to absorb that message. Sit with it for a while. Take it in.
Most troubling to me is the ongoing division in the United States which seems to be widening. You are either Black or white. Right or wrong. Good or bad. And there is nothing in between. Yet we all know this is not how life—and people—work. None of us are all one thing or another.
The national recognition of Juneteenth was a beautiful thing that should have united people. Who in America would not celebrate freedom, right? But as soon as the country became washed over with the meaning of Juneteenth, it took even less time than that to use it as another topic to divide us. Some adhered more strongly to the 4th of July and vowed to never celebrate Juneteenth, and some said from now on they would never celebrate the 4th of July again.
MONTHLY COLUMNS
-
Life of a Reader
Make Way for Father’s Day
by Judy Newman -
Q&A
Kate Pugsley
by Julianne Black DiBlasi -
The Book Bug
Lisa Westberg Peters
by Raven Howell -
Monsters at the Movies
The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Power Up Edition
by Nick Spake -
Liv On Life
Children are the Future
by Olivia Amiri -
Kids Corner
Let’s Color
Emma Allen -
Teaching Toolbox
Let the Words Flow
by Larissa Juliano -
Conrad‘s Classroom
Night Gallery: Colorful Moths
by Conrad J. Storad
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