I HATE TO READ!

Announcing the upcoming publication of my children’s picture book…

I HATE to READ!

It is beautifully illustrated by Genevieve LaVO Codson, who so wonderfully captured the energy and spirit of the text in her drawings. Whimsical, bold, and entertaining, the book is meant to be read aloud by parents to their children. 

Kids won’t even realize that they are learning a great coping tool for the strong feelings that come up around learning to read. Parents will be happy to have a way to direct their kids’ frustration with learning that is easy to remember and to do with their child.

My inspiration for this book is very personal.

My younger son was diagnosed with Dyslexia at age 7. Before we knew he had dyslexia, learning to read was a daily struggle. Our home was filled with crying, stomping, and the frequent declaration, “I HATE to READ!” 

It always amazed me to see how my son’s entire body, as well as his feelings, were involved in this very loud declaration of frustration. 

One day about two years ago, I was thinking back on his struggle when rhymes started coming into my mind about his feelings and all the things he would rather do, no matter how potentially absurd or unpleasant, than read a book. That’s how I HATE to READ! was born.

And then there were more….

Once I got started the ideas just kept flowing. Before I knew it, I HATE MATH! came pouring out of me. Then I started thinking about all the struggles we had when both my boys were little to get those darn socks on their tiny feet…you know, the issues with the socks twisting around and the seams being all wrong…that’s how I HATE these SOCKS! was born.

Publishing

I HATE to READ! will be published by Balboa Press, which is a partnership publishing division of Hay House, in 2018. Waiting in the wings for illustration and publication are the two follow-up books that with a little bit of luck will be picked up by a major publisher such as Hay House.

And the rest of the story

By the way, my son is now 14. Due to an amazing education at the Lewis School of Princeton, his Dyslexia has been remediated so much that he will be graduating one year earlier than expected!

It turns out that math has been more of a challenge for him, but even there he has made great progress though the going is slower and very tedious for him.

I wish I could tell you that he now loves to read, but alas, I cannot tell a lie. Despite being a great reader, being gifted in analyzing and appreciating literature, and writing creatively, if you asked him today if he enjoyed reading, the answer would still be: I hate to read. I love to read, so I am still hoping that someday the answer will change, but in the meantime, I’m happy to focus on just how far he has come!