THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When My Mom Was Little by Ginger Burke

When I started this new blog post series, I did it with the idea of sharing the WHY I created my stories, but then I thought…why not share OTHER authors STORY BEHIND “THEIR” STORY? I put the call out and soon I had tons of authors who wanted to share their backstories with my readers. This week my friend and children’s book author, Ginger Burke, is sharing the WHY she wrote her newly released book, WHEN MY MOM WAS LITTLE. Take it away, Ginger…

When My Mom Was Little by Ginger Burke

I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t captivated by languages. By the time I was 25 I had lived in multiple countries and studied Spanish, Russian, Uighur, and even Greek and Hebrew. I also enjoyed English, but usually just as a stepping stone to learn more exotic languages. When my first child was born, and we learned the definition for the word “colic”, my husband suggested that I get out of the house and do something fun several nights a week. So, I signed up for an Arabic class. Because that’s fun for normal people, right?

Fast forward ten years, and Covid entered. My kindergartener was already struggling in school, and his dear teacher’s attempt at virtual learning was a fiasco. I reluctantly withdrew him from school and started homeschooling him. Even though I had taught English and reading to dozens of students and a variety of language groups, I was very nervous to teach my own child. Thankfully, he did well with our lessons and had a hunger to read real books, like his older siblings. Unfortunately, the books that he was able to read were not interesting in the slightest. He wanted fun books, but his lessons hadn’t even taught him words like “was” and “what”.

When you live in a foreign country and you only know 50 words in the local language, you quickly learn how to communicate using only those words. And that’s what my son needed: entertaining books using only a handful of words. That began my newest obsession. I wrote book after book for him, and he devoured them all and asked for more.  He has long since passed the beginner stage of reading, but I find it such a fun challenge to present interesting stories using minimal letter sounds, that I am still writing these books.

The first curriculum we used was Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It was the perfect fit for my kiddo, and the first books I wrote for him all supplemented that material. When we finished the 100 lessons, I wrote my son, Dan, a book about when I was little as if he and his friend, Dee Dee, were just learning about these stories. Enjoy! When My Mom Was Little by Ginger Burke

Here is the book blurb:

Curious friends, Dan and Dee Dee, are surprised to find out some unique memories about Dan’s mom. Journey with them through stories of a pet deer, a 70 pound birthday gift, and a mishap with a mummy.

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Addicted to languages and funny stories, Ginger Burke is the author of more than twenty books for beginning readers. She loves to write books that children can read and want to read. After riding horses in the mountains of Kyrgizstan, chasing down thieves in China, and getting stranded in Thailand, she has settled down to the basics of English and is making sure emergent readers have access to grand adventures in her simple books. Her husband and three children are her current adventures.

Want to connect?

Website: www.acornplacebooks.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/acornplacebooks

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/gingerkburke