The following letter is intended to be shared with your children. I have a memory that stretches back to when I was around eight months of age. Don’t assume that even the youngest child is not aware of, or effected by our recent national tragedy

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Dear Students,

I am sure that all of you have been following the unfolding events in our nation-- the tragic bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I have received several letters from children who are concerned and wonder what they should do. I have a few suggestions.

First and foremost, it is your job to take care of yourself. Are you feeling sad, mad, confused, or worried? That is all right. You are not alone. Get out your paper every day and write or draw what you are thinking or feeling.

Share your creations with your parents, teachers and friends, or start a private diary that only you can read.

There may be something you can do to help. Keep your ears open. Perhaps there is a project at your school, church, or synagogue that you can join.

Talk to your parents and teachers about your feelings. Tell an adult your worst fears about this situation. Be careful not to listen to rumors. What you hear on the playground may not be true. Children have the best imaginations!

Read books. During times of worry and stress books can be a great comfort. Books can show us how to be strong and brave, teach us the wonders of the world and give us renewed belief in a bright and shining future.

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A HELPING BOOK-- WHEN CHILDREN GRIEVE

If you are searching for a book to help guide your children through these hard times, the following book has many helpful insights. WHEN CHILDREN GRIEVE is a book that instructs adults as to how to help children deal with various types of grief and losses. I found it helped me in knowing what to do and say during this time of national disaster.

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Excerpt from WHEN CHILDREN GRIEVE; by John W James, Russell Friedman, and Leslie Landon Matthews.

“For adults to help children deal with grief and losses.

Something has occurred that is negatively affecting your child. You may be aware of this because of the ways in which your child is behaving. Many of the normal and natural signs of grief are fairly obvious. Most of those signs would be the same for a child's reaction to a death, a divorce, or some other type of loss. But for now, we will use a child's response to news about a death. Often the immediate response to learning of a death is a sense of numbness. That numbness lasts a different amount of time for each child. What usually lasts longer, and is even more universal, is a reduced ability to concentrate.

“Other common reactions include major changes in eating and sleeping patterns. Those patterns can alternate from one extreme to the other. Also typical is a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. As we mention these reactions, please notice that we are not labeling them as stages. They are simply some of the normal ways in which the body, the mind, and especially the emotions respond to the overwhelmingly painful information that something out of the ordinary has occurred.

“This book (on behalf of your children) is about your child's reaction to death and other losses, and what you can do to help him or her. Because the topic of grief and potential recovery is so obscured by fear and misinformation, we are going to encourage you to examine the ideas you currently have about dealing with loss and to consider seriously whether those ideas are valuable for helping your child. We are going to presume that you are reading this book because you are eager to acquire the ideas and tools that will enable you to begin helping your child right away.”

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THE E-MAIL BOX

Dear Mrs. Wood,

I read your answer in regards to school visits, but it doesn't answer my question. We live in a rural area in Arizona, one where no authors come to visit. We have bookstores, but they do not host authors. Do you make appearances at schools without the use of a bookstore?

Pamela Van Arsdale, Arizona

Dear Pamela,

I'm sorry to say “no.” We don't visit schools unless our publishers send us on a book tour. We have had to make a hard decision on this subject due to the time it takes for us to create books for children to read. I wish we could clone ourselves and appear everywhere at once! Please keep in touch with us through our web site and have the children write us!

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Dear Audrey,

After reading your biography and exploring your web site, I've been fascinated by your idea box. I am a little curious, do you keep the "idea" paper or illustration after it has created a published book? I was wondering what significance it has to you after the idea has been developed.

I would appreciate if you could share your thoughts about your "idea box" with me.

Elyse Costello

Dear Elyse,

What an intriguing question. Yes, I do save all of the material I glean from my idea box. The bits and pieces of information that have inspired my books remain very valuable to me long after the book has been published. When I go back to my idea box and find the tidbits that led to a finished manuscript, I am always amazed and emboldened anew. The core ideas and thoughts are so primitive compared to the final work. A single sentence or quick sketch can inspire a book. This never fails to give me the faith that I will be able to pull another book out of my idea box.

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Dear Audrey,

When I read JUBAL'S WISH aloud to my son, Jubal has an Irish accent. I can't help it. The meter of the writing just fits it. Did you actually intend this when writing the dialog?

Jay Miller, Columbia, MO

Dear Jay!

Another great question! I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and spent my summers with my family in the Ozark Mountains where my father, an artist, loved to paint. As a child I was fascinated by the language and dialect of the older people of the Ozark Mountains, people whose ancestry dates back to Ireland and Scotland. While writing JUBAL’S WISH I would read it outloud in a dialect that sounded (to my ear) like a cross between a southern accent and an Irish accent. According to my mother, her side of the family are direct descendents of Mary Queen of Scots.

Thanks for askin’ darlin.’

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Hello Audrey,

I have enjoyed all your books and share them with friends and family as well as students. I just bought ALPAHBET ADVENTURE and am planning on starting the reading instruction for my younger students with it. I left off the dot for the “j “ in my alphabet display and will look to see if the children notice it. I put the dot in a corner on my calendar board and will help them find it if necessary.

Mary Jane Benjamin, P.B.Smith Elementary, Warrenton, Va.

Dear Mary,

Great idea! We encourage you to share your experiences with our books in SMART PIGGY’S NEWSLETTER!

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Dear Audrey,

I just wish I had had a "video-mail" hooked up to show you how the children in my class responded to ALPHABET ADVENTURE! I read the story as a way to introduce our own classroom alphabet and, as often happens, a few children sat on the outer edge of the group as I began the story. (We gather on the rug by my rocker). Right away I heard the comment, "I am going to like this book!"

The children's bodies and faces moved closer and closer as the story went on. When the letters made a chain to rescue "i," Thomas said, "It would have been fun if they had really spelled the word chain." (Thomas is already a good reader at six!) They really liked how each of the letters went to get something to help "i", and they got so excited when they saw the capital letter party. By the end of the book they were almost on top of my feet and ALL were totally engaged in the story.

ALPHABET ADVENTURE passed the test of the true critics. We will, of course. read it again and again to look for more details. I am delighted to see some of the hidden treasures that you all included in the text, as well as in the illustrations. Other teachers at my school are anxious to share the wealth, too.

Barbara Mabary, First grade, teacher, Marietta, Ga.

Dear Barbara,

Thank you for your wonderful description! I can just see the children gathered around your rocking chair. I’ll admit the book is terrific, but kudos go to you as well. We can tell you are an inspiring storyteller!

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NEWS FLASH: Coming Soon, Look for a SPECIAL, SMART PIGGY’S EDITON!

We will be debuting my new Christmas book, A COWBOY CHRISTMAS, The Miracle At Lone Pine Ridge, illustrated by Robert Florczack.

Robert and I will be touring in November. The tour schedule is listed on my web site.

A COWBOY CHRISTMAS is a family book for all ages. This longer, and lavishly illustrated story is set in the harsh landscape of the pioneer West, where a cowboy's shimmering act of generosity and a boy's tenacious faith will make possible the miracle at Lone Pine Ridge. I think there is a message in this book for everyone-- sometimes a miracle needs a helping hand.

AW

A COWBOY CHRISTMAS is due to arrive in stores the first week of October.

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JOIN IN AND BE A SMART PIGGY!

Do you have an activity inspired by one of our books that you would like to share with other Smart Piggies? Let us know and we’ll include it in our newsletter.

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NEW SUBSCRIBERS!

Check out our past Smart Piggy's Newsletters! Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter past Issues" link.

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Keep your questions and suggestions coming!

Warmest Regards,

Audrey Wood

Info@audreywood.com

http://www.audreywood.com