Author Showcase Features Writers Passionate About Kids and Reading

Charlottesville, VA March 19, 2007. The Reading Tub, Inc. is pleased to announce its Winter Quarter Author Showcase. The current slate of authors – W. Royce Adams, Deborah Capone, and Faiz Kermani – wrote books to help change the way kids think about themselves and the world around them.

Although each of the authors came to the Reading Tub® independently, their purpose is singular: use books to help kids see that the world is bigger than they are. Faiz Kermani and Deborah Capone want kids to celebrate the multicultural world we live in, no matter what their age. Capone writes for pre-readers and elementary-aged children; Kermani is writing for middle-school kids. Both Kermani and Royce Adams use fantasy to engage their young readers in "what would I do" scenarios that help them with problem solving, ethics, and social norms. What do they all have in common? They want to offer lessons about bullying. These authors are writing for different audiences, but they are singular in their goal to give kids tools for recognizing and dealing with bullies.

The Reading Tub, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to promoting children’s and family literacy. The organization launched the Author Showcase in February 2005 as a way to introduce parents, teachers, librarians, and the public at large to new authors and new books. “We learn so much from the authors in the Showcase. We are always excited about the opportunity to share some behind-the-scenes looks at their books or how they came to be children's book writers,” says Terry Doherty, president of The Reading Tub, Inc.

"Presenting the slate of Featured Authors is one of my favorite things. I'm sure our readers get tired of me saying "I'm excited," but it's true. As a parent, I love having the opportunity to learn more about an author or a book. As someone who is passionate about literacy, it is great to have a forum where we can introduce people who actively want to help our kids grow through reading. That's not easy to do when they are competing with iPods and computer games, soccer practices and homework, too."

Royce Adams can tell you about the precise moment he decided to write a book for pre-teens. As an English professor, he had written a number of books to help high school students prepare for college. One day, his then pre-teen daughter wanted to know when he would write something she would want to read. Together, Royce and his daughter created The Rairarubia Tales, a fantasy series with female protagonists. Royce ha also added several other books, including The Computer's Nerd that addresses the topic of bullying; and Me and Jay, that covers life as a teenage runaway. [To see our profile of Royce and read the interview, go to
http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=31]

When Deborah Capone adopted a little girl from China, she was looking for media that could help her daughter understand herself and her family situation. Unable to find what she wanted, Deb set out to create her own material. She founded As Simple as That, and began producing multi-cultural stories that help kids see that children around the world celebrate the same things they do. Her main character, Rain, is a six-year-old girl who is based on her daughter. In Families are Forever Capone describes adoption; and in Dumplings are Delicious, Rain and her friends learn that every culture has "dumplings," they just might have different ingredients. [To see our profile of Deborah Capone, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=33]

It's not quite inter-galactic communication, but The Reading Tub® and Faiz Kermani did '"talk" across a big ocean. Despite the ocean between us, it is easy to see how Faiz blended his own love of space, his world travel experiences, and scientific curiosity into My Alien Penfriends, a science fiction novel about two boys from different planets who learn about each other via inter-galactic mail. "My goal is to offer a humorous story that helps kids understand – and hopefully adopt – the lessons of tolerance." The story has already been translated from English to Greek, French, and Spanish. Faiz believes that making the book accessible across cultures furthers this goal. [To see our profile of Faiz Kermani and read our interview, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=32]

Individuals can also link directly to The Reading Tub, Inc. interviews with the authors through the “Author Showcase” tab on the Reading Tub™ Web site. Once there, you can learn more about the authors and you can link to reviews of their books.

The archive of authors previously featured in the Author Showcase is easy to find. Just go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/author_showcase.asp

To become a Featured Author or learn more about the Author Showcase, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/becomeFeatured.asp

The Reading Tub, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to promoting children’s and family literacy. The organization's web site http://www.thereadingtub.com offers book reviews for children's books (0 to 13), as well as articles and information to help parents, teachers, librarians, and others find books that will help kids learn to read and/or get excited about reading.

The Reading Tub, Inc.
3585 Glasgow Lane
Keswick, VA 22947
Terry Doherty, President
(703) 402-5809
Email: terry@thereadingtub.com
http://www.thereadingtub.com

This release was published on openPR.