The Cast of Stars:
Uncle E
Boogie, Diggle, & Lolo
S: HALLELUIA-er!!! Lawd, we gonna have to have church up in here today! Umm-m, Umph! Who can seriously argue with that! Now, once we get the books in our homes and sit down with our child, how does a parent make reading “fun?”
U: Perception. If reading is fun to parents, then it will be perceived to be fun to children. And children can tell the difference. They observe. They will see if mommy/daddy have a book in their hands often or if they are just making their kids read. Reading to kids is still fun and impossible to EVER go out of style! Kids love the bonding. We cannot become so busy that we don’t read to our children.
S: Whew! Absolutely! I find that when I become animated with the characters while reading, my little munchkins’ eyes light up. When it is their turn to read, they mimic the animated voices and even begin to alter their voices as the character changes. They become so good with the pictures, too. Are illustrations absolutely necessary for children’s books? Why or Why Not?
U: I believe so. I think Illustrations should come with adult books, as well (well, not all adult books, if you know what I mean). But we are a society that is image driven. Images help tell the story, define the characters.
S: (Laughter) Yes, I have to agree and as a people, we are very visual. Now, you have a very profound way of engaging the critical thinking skills through your characters. This makes The DBL Adventures very appropriate for Educators to use in the classroom setting as well. How difficult was that to accomplish?
U: Not very hard. I’m ashamed to say this, but when I write, I pretend that I’m 6 and I think about how I would process scenarios. We don’t give kids enough credit for what they process. My kids will say something about a topic sometimes that makes me say, “boy they went the extra mile to think about that.” I usually use my kids as testers to see if what I am writing is easy or hard for them to comprehend.
S: Well, it is quite evident in the The DBL Adventures that you paid particular attention to those types of details. We can learn so much from our children when we take the time to do it. What a blessing you are! Do you refer to any special children’s vocabulary resource?
U: Actually, no. I just write the story. I will admit, if we’ve received any criticism at all, it’s been because of the vocabulary. Some may feel that it is too much at one time for a Kindergartener or first-grade reader. My response is usually one of two things:
1) I always intended for our books to be read and enjoyed by the entire family. And in doing so, the parents can help their kids identify words that may be unfamiliar.
2) WE DUMMY DOWN TOO MANY BOOKS! THAT’s why they are so boring in the perception of our kids. Then we pass them through a par reading level, statistics develop like the one mentioned above, and then they get to college and are tested into basic reading classes. We purposely put words in kids that were subliminally forced to comprehend in order to continue to enjoy the story. With the Read-A-Long CD, they can get help in pronouncing the words. As we prepare to print the next edition of the books, we will include a glossary in the back to give parents a definition of these words in children’s laymen terms.
S: Uncle E, you are absolutely phenomenal and I can easily see why your book sales have topped 5,000 in sales! Again, folks, you can order The DBL Adventures from the website http://www.dbladventures.com/ today and be prepared to be placed on a waiting list, too. (Smile).
Ok, I know time is ticking, Uncle E, but please share with us why is critical thinking for a child important versus simply having fun?
U: I don’t think there is a “versus.” They have to merge in a partnership. If it’s not enjoyable, kids will feel like they are forced to do it. And as I said, kids think critically all the time. They just don’t realize when they are doing it.
S: I see. The African-American family is faced with some very difficult economic, social, and health issues today that pose a threat to family. How does a family keep a supply of good reading books for children?
U: Until the recession shuts down all the libraries, which will never happen, there is no excuse for a child not to obtain books!
S: I won’t ask you to repeat that, but I will challenge parents to make a trip to your local library while your child is on Spring Break from school. Now, do parents rely too much on teachers of young children or vice versa?
U: Well, I don’t want to speak for parents and make any assumptions. It can be easy to lighten up with mentally stimulating your child if you know that that is somebody’s “JOB” to do it regularly. However, as our President is communicating with education reform, no reform will be successful without the involvement of the parent. There is no way around it. A parent must reiterate the principles taught in school. AND, the reality is that we, particularly in urban areas will ALWAYS have oversized classes, so the parent has to determine if what the class is learning overall is too easy or too hard for their respective child.
A parent has to be willing to become a personal tutor. If it’s too hard, the parent needs to be willing to make it make sense. If it’s too easy, what else can you give the child? My wife made sure my son learned cursive even when the rest of the kids in his class weren’t taught it. She started my daughter on reading three level words when the rest of the class was just on two.
S: Ok, parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, etc., let’s put this into practice today! We are the village!! Of course, so are teachers. How do you believe a teacher can inspire parents to read with their children?
U: Boy this could be a long answer. The short and simple is this: School could possibly do a better job of establishing a partnership with parents and vice versa. PTAs and PTOs in our school are not well attended by parents many times. And the teachers are so tired from working with the kids all day that they don’t represent the “T” in PTA/PTO. If there is no partnership, there is no communication. If there is no communication, there is no inspiration. A partnership between Parents and Teachers is not just an added benefit, it is a necessity!
S: Whew! Absolutely! I find that when I become animated with the characters while reading, my little munchkins’ eyes light up. When it is their turn to read, they mimic the animated voices and even begin to alter their voices as the character changes. They become so good with the pictures, too. Are illustrations absolutely necessary for children’s books? Why or Why Not?
U: I believe so. I think Illustrations should come with adult books, as well (well, not all adult books, if you know what I mean). But we are a society that is image driven. Images help tell the story, define the characters.
S: (Laughter) Yes, I have to agree and as a people, we are very visual. Now, you have a very profound way of engaging the critical thinking skills through your characters. This makes The DBL Adventures very appropriate for Educators to use in the classroom setting as well. How difficult was that to accomplish?
U: Not very hard. I’m ashamed to say this, but when I write, I pretend that I’m 6 and I think about how I would process scenarios. We don’t give kids enough credit for what they process. My kids will say something about a topic sometimes that makes me say, “boy they went the extra mile to think about that.” I usually use my kids as testers to see if what I am writing is easy or hard for them to comprehend.
S: Well, it is quite evident in the The DBL Adventures that you paid particular attention to those types of details. We can learn so much from our children when we take the time to do it. What a blessing you are! Do you refer to any special children’s vocabulary resource?
U: Actually, no. I just write the story. I will admit, if we’ve received any criticism at all, it’s been because of the vocabulary. Some may feel that it is too much at one time for a Kindergartener or first-grade reader. My response is usually one of two things:
1) I always intended for our books to be read and enjoyed by the entire family. And in doing so, the parents can help their kids identify words that may be unfamiliar.
2) WE DUMMY DOWN TOO MANY BOOKS! THAT’s why they are so boring in the perception of our kids. Then we pass them through a par reading level, statistics develop like the one mentioned above, and then they get to college and are tested into basic reading classes. We purposely put words in kids that were subliminally forced to comprehend in order to continue to enjoy the story. With the Read-A-Long CD, they can get help in pronouncing the words. As we prepare to print the next edition of the books, we will include a glossary in the back to give parents a definition of these words in children’s laymen terms.
S: Uncle E, you are absolutely phenomenal and I can easily see why your book sales have topped 5,000 in sales! Again, folks, you can order The DBL Adventures from the website http://www.dbladventures.com/ today and be prepared to be placed on a waiting list, too. (Smile).
Ok, I know time is ticking, Uncle E, but please share with us why is critical thinking for a child important versus simply having fun?
U: I don’t think there is a “versus.” They have to merge in a partnership. If it’s not enjoyable, kids will feel like they are forced to do it. And as I said, kids think critically all the time. They just don’t realize when they are doing it.
S: I see. The African-American family is faced with some very difficult economic, social, and health issues today that pose a threat to family. How does a family keep a supply of good reading books for children?
U: Until the recession shuts down all the libraries, which will never happen, there is no excuse for a child not to obtain books!
S: I won’t ask you to repeat that, but I will challenge parents to make a trip to your local library while your child is on Spring Break from school. Now, do parents rely too much on teachers of young children or vice versa?
U: Well, I don’t want to speak for parents and make any assumptions. It can be easy to lighten up with mentally stimulating your child if you know that that is somebody’s “JOB” to do it regularly. However, as our President is communicating with education reform, no reform will be successful without the involvement of the parent. There is no way around it. A parent must reiterate the principles taught in school. AND, the reality is that we, particularly in urban areas will ALWAYS have oversized classes, so the parent has to determine if what the class is learning overall is too easy or too hard for their respective child.
A parent has to be willing to become a personal tutor. If it’s too hard, the parent needs to be willing to make it make sense. If it’s too easy, what else can you give the child? My wife made sure my son learned cursive even when the rest of the kids in his class weren’t taught it. She started my daughter on reading three level words when the rest of the class was just on two.
S: Ok, parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, etc., let’s put this into practice today! We are the village!! Of course, so are teachers. How do you believe a teacher can inspire parents to read with their children?
U: Boy this could be a long answer. The short and simple is this: School could possibly do a better job of establishing a partnership with parents and vice versa. PTAs and PTOs in our school are not well attended by parents many times. And the teachers are so tired from working with the kids all day that they don’t represent the “T” in PTA/PTO. If there is no partnership, there is no communication. If there is no communication, there is no inspiration. A partnership between Parents and Teachers is not just an added benefit, it is a necessity!
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