Author Makes Reading Fun By Creating an Interactive Children's Book (1038 hits)
When Children's book author Leketha Marie Johnson awoke from a dream about a smart and fun loving young girl who loves to solve playground crimes and neighborhood mysteries, she decided to put the dream on paper. Upon uncovering some startling statistics -- which is less than 2% of trade-published children's books were written by African American authors -- Johnson further committed to publishing SUNNY'S ADVENTURES, a children's mystery book (Jabberwocky Books, Mill City Press, April 2008, ISBN 978-0-9802456-0-8, $12.95).
According to The Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, only 87 out of the 5000 children's books written and illustrated in 2006 (and distributed mostly by the major trade publishing houses) were by African American authors. Surprisingly, that number slightly decreased even more in 2007. Because she believes that children deserve to be exposed to all kinds of literature, Johnson set into motion the publication of SUNNY'S ADVENTURES, a collection of clever anecdotes involving the neighborhood's best and youngest detective: Sunny.
Our heroine Sunny is everything her name suggests -- bright and spunky, and with a heart of gold. Readers follow Sunny as she tracks down missing puppies, stolen apple-blueberry streusel pies and even aids her father in a big surprise for Mom. The chapters are interactive, asking young readers to identify at the end which clues helped Sunny solve the crime. Parents and kids can also check out www.SunnysAdventures.com for free downloadable activities, coloring contests, free newsletter, and information for parents on children's literature.
Johnson remains dedicated to promoting multicultural characters in children's books, and is currently writing several other upcoming publications, including a sequel to SUNNY'S ADVENTURES.
About the author: Mrs. Johnson is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, African American Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, NAACP, and the National Black Child Development Institute, a program established to increase the early literacy skills for African American children. She resides in Riverside, California with her husband and daughter. Sunny's Adventures is her first published book.
