Introducing Carolyn Wild and her charming series of early learning books that help with reading skills, word recognition, and are also helpful to people just learning the English language, and special needs students. The back of the book also includes some great learning tools! Enjoy learning about another children’s book author!
1. As a teacher, what made you decide to write books for early learners featuring sight words?
Was there a lack of content for teachers to access?
My books were written with the beginner reader, parent and teacher in mind. I have been teaching for over 25 years and I have seen children from many diverse backgrounds struggle in the great task of learning to read. Our school has a limited number of beginner readers that the children share daily and that are available for students to take home. Some of the wording in these readers is very difficult for my beginner readers, English Language Learners and special needs students. The available books do not always offer pictures or illustrations that match the sight words correctly or the wording might be too difficult for the students to sound out.
I wanted to offer books that used the first beginner sight words that primary children need to focus on in a fun way. My books have a kind of rebus feel to them and feature color coded words and pictures to help children to figure out the story. For instance, the word “BIG” is big and the word “little” is actually little. My books incorporate curriculum learning needs such as the concept of time through the seasons, ING endings, counting with ten frames, addition and subtraction and rhyming word families. I also added a colorful picture dictionary, science and or history facts and guidelines for assisting parents when they are working with their beginner reader. On my website there are lessons plans, worksheets and coloring pages that focus on my books and promote literacy and math. Families can download worksheets for free and I have added book giveaways as well.
2. Do you plan to continue with this series of books or do you have other projects in mind?
I live in the beautiful Okanagan valley in British Columbia. It is a worldwide tourist attraction with its fruit orchards, charming farms, markets and mountainous views. There are so many unique farms and historic attractions all around us to use for new books ideas.
I have several books in various production stages that I am working on. Many of them will be in the “Wild Acres Farm Series”. I just published two new books titled “This Kitten: Has Blue Eyes” and “Jacob Sheep: Do you Have a Little Lamb?” and they are available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. You can find my book series on my online store Shop – Carolyn Wild and at some local stores in British Columbia, Canada. The Wild Acres Farm Series is in the process of being published in paperback and hardcover through IngramSpark. With IngramSpark my books will be made available to book stores and libraries worldwide.
3. You used a Komondor dog in this book. How long have you had this breed of dog and why do you prefer them?
We have had Komondor dogs for 11 years now. They are intelligent protectors and bond to their families in almost an eager child like way. These rare livestock guardian dogs come from Hungary. We imported our male Komondor dog from Hungary a couple years ago as we could not find a companion for our female Komondor at the time. Samu is a huge male Komondor that came from show stock and was well worth the time, money and effort it took to bring him to Canada. He has bonded with me and seeks me out daily for special time and training. Komondors patrol at night and will take on large predators such as bears, cougars and coyotes that roam in our mountainous British Columbia area. We have not lost any of our farm animals with our Komondor dogs on duty. We do clip their long hair in the late spring as it gets hot here in August. These dogs make wonderful family dogs and we love them dearly.
4. What favorite children’s books do you keep in your classroom? Which was your favorite and why?
My favorite children’s books include pop-up fairy tales and science books and books with CDs that feature stories or songs. I have been collecting special books for years as a teacher and now I own a small library collection. I like colorful, artistic books that grab your attention, promote great book discussions and make us all laugh.
My favorite children’s authors and book collections include Eric Carle, Jan Brett, Robert Munch, Todd Parr, Dr. Seuss, and Patricia Polacco. It is difficult to just pick one favorite author or book. I like variety in my life at school and at home so I don’t have just one all time favorite author or book.
5. What advice would you give to unpublished authors just starting out?
It helps if you read a lot of children’s books and books in general before you start writing. Then I would suggest taking some courses and joining author and illustrator groups on media to get a feel for the industry and to learn from others. Ask questions and don’t wait until retirement to take on a new hobby or career. Don’t plan on buying a yacht or supporting yourself right away from your book sales. Just plan your creative escape and see where it takes you.