At home the boy loves to write stories – about
dragons, ogres, robotic pirates and anything else he can think of. His head is
cluttered with untold tales that keep him awake until he gets them down on
paper.
At school the red pen is his greatest enemy. It crosses
out and corrects until his pages are a horrid mess of substitute words. The boy
hates writing at school.
Then along comes Mr Watson; a teacher full of
humour, colour and sound. He is interested and interesting, and engages all the
children. He doesn’t care if kids can’t spell. He just wants them to write
their stories. His own stories and animated blackboard art fill the classroom
with laughter, enthusiasm and confidence. He encourages the children to express
themselves in their own way.
With a spectacular cover and end papers, and brilliantly
illustrated in strong bold lines and vivid colour, the characters are active
and alive on the page. Being dyslexic doesn’t mean you can’t write is the
powerful message that comes across in every line and image in the book.
Fantastic facial expressions, (even on the crayons and animals), portray the
characters’ struggle, while maintaining a light-hearted ambience throughout.
This book is carefully constructed and illustrated
by two highly creative people. Paul Russell, artist, teacher and playwright,
draws on his experiences with dyslexia. Aska, an award-winning artist and
scientist, worked with up to 70 children with dyslexia or reading difficulties
to absorb and portray the ideal atmosphere in the illustrations.
My
Storee is full of optimism and inspiration, and an
excellent teaching stem for use in classrooms, by speech pathologists, and
anywhere it’s needed. Children with learning challenges will relate to the
characters and situations depicted in the stunning artwork, and gain confidence
to move toward their full potential when they see that they just do things
differently. Some may even later become
famous authors and actors.
Title:
My Storee
Author/Illustrator:
Paul Russell and Aska
Publisher:
EK Books, $ 24.99
Publication
Date: August 2018
Format:
Hardcover
ISBN:
9781925335774
For
ages: 4 - 8
Type:
Picture Book
