The Kid Who Was Afraid of Words
*** THIS IS A PRE-ORDER! Release date: September 17, 2024. The books will ship to you on or a couple days before the release date. Thank you for your order!***
The Kid Who Was Afraid of Words
by Theresa Dabney
Illustrated by Summer Morrison
ISBN PB: 9781645387633
ISBN HC: 9781645387503
Children's Picture Book
Educational - Empowerment
ABOUT THE BOOK
Meet Langston Longwordsworth, a kid who isn’t afraid of much at all—not rats, bats, bugs, or even most girls. But there is one thing this budding young reader is afraid of—Langston Longwordsworth is afraid of words! Oh, not words like “ball” or “run” or even “jumping.” Those words are easy to read. It is when Langston encounters words he doesn’t know that the trouble begins.
At school, Langston employs a number of tricks to avoid having to read words that are unfamiliar to him. At home, he simply shoves the books under his bed. (His mattress is taking on a funny shape from all the literary works there!) Langston remains quite content with the way things are.
Until, one day . . . he receives a book he just has to read. But on the first page, Langston encounters a word he doesn’t know, and his beloved book joins the rest under his bed. It is in a dream that night that Langston discovers something extraordinary that helps him overcome his fear of unfamiliar words.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Theresa Dabney is a retired elementary language arts teacher who thanks her parents for the amazing teaching career they helped shape. The slew of siblings they produced guaranteed an audience for the educational songs, skits, and stories that constantly swirled in her head. Honing her skills to keep family members captivated served Ms. Dabney well when at the helm of her own classroom. (Her background in theater didn’t hurt either!)
Theresa approaches writing the same as she did teaching: keep it fun and meaningful with true learning stemming from lots of exploration and self-discovery along the way. The Kid Who Was Afraid of Words is her first published book. The idea for the story came about her first year of teaching when she noticed her fifth graders were loath to read aloud. It was when she discovered why that Langston Longwordsworth came to life. Theresa hopes young children see themselves in Langston and that parents remember their own journey in reading and share it with their little ones. You can hear Theresa read aloud children’s books using different character voices or hear some of her original songs by visiting her YouTube channel: Read Aloud Storytime Sing Along Songtime.