Tuesday, June 05, 2018

Explaining Cancer to Kids: Tickles Tabitha's going to Summer Reading Camp!



Schools Out for Summer!

Just writing the words sends a nostalgic feeling of euphoria pulsing through me. I disliked school as a kid. However, I loved attending my school's summer reading program. It was everything I liked, which was art, reading, and snacks, without the things I didn't!

I had no idea that summer school was educational. It was too much fun! My real school experiences had taught me that anything educational is difficult. In my childish mind fun did not equate to learning. If it had I would have been a much better student. 

That is why I try hard to make even difficult topics, like cancer and nuclear power, fun to read about. 

This June, I’m excited to announce that Tickles Tabitha and I are going back to summer school!  We've been invited to Read to be Ready Camp at Midtown Elementary School in Roane County, Tennessee, where I now reside. 

Midtown Elementary was awarded one of Tennessee's Read to Be Ready grants, and we were invited to participate in their summer reading camp: Birds, Blooms, and Books! Made possible by the Tennessee Department of Education.

I’ll be introducing students to my book Tickles Tabitha's Cancer-tankerous Mommy, and sharing with them my experiences of being a writer, publisher, and cancer survivor.



It’s been several U-haul moves, and a new computer, since my last author school visit. However, you cannot retire from being a children’s book author…not when you have friends who are teachers.
My friend Nancy Laws teaches at Midtown Elementary. Today, I met up with her at the school to check out where I'd be camping. (Make sure all the technology works!)
Nancy and I became friends over twenty years ago, when our children were in play group together. She had just begun to take her teaching courses, and I had just found out I had breast cancer. It was in Tennessee, that I penned the first version of my cancer title.


It seemed only fitting that I would share my cancer awareness program with her campers.

I've been getting reacquainted with Tickles Tabitha, and Nutcracker Publishing's cancer awareness school program curriculum. All I'm missing are my campers, and a few props. 





I will never find!