Authors head back to school

To encourage students to read, Huntington Beach elementary schools bring writers and illustrators -- even canine book heroes -- into the classroom to discuss their work. With the modern-day distractions of big-screen televisions, video games, cell phones and Internet chat rooms, it is becoming more challenging for parents and teachers to encourage children to read books.

To help remedy that situation, Huntington Beach elementary schools participate in the annual Authors Day as a way of introducing students to the people who write and illustrate the books we borrow from the library or buy in the stores.

Hawes Elementary School hosted its Authors Day event on Tuesday and invited authors Lenora Kerr of Irvine and Alice Kalomas of San Juan Capistrano to read and speak to all grade levels. Kerr also brought her bulldog, Sir Wrinkles, who inspired her and Kalomas to come out of retirement and write children’s books. They have written and published two books -- “Sir Wrinkles” and “Sir Wrinkles Goes to School.”

“It was absolutely fabulous,” Kerr said of their day at Hawes Elementary. “The kids are wonderful. The dog was wonderful and he got through the whole thing.”

Both Kerr and Kalomas are retired educators who decided to write entertaining children’s books that also serve an educational purpose. Because Kerr is a bulldog breeder and Kalomas is a dog lover, their first two books provide a lot of helpful tips for children with animals. They also have a website, www.sirwrinklesthebulldog.com, which provides parents and children with additional information.

“Our goal was to take our core, which is education and the dog world, and start from there and just build it bigger and bigger,” Kerr said. “When you’ve been a teacher, it’s hard not to be a teacher.”

The coauthors said they opted to self-publish their books so they could retain control over the writing, editing, illustrating and publishing process.

“The books have only been out a few months,” Kerr said. “We are very excited about the acceptance that we have had from the public.... Everything has happened very quickly; it’s just exploded, so that’s been extremely exciting.”

They are working on a third Sir Wrinkles book, which will address disabilities and handicaps.

Hawes Elementary Principal Olivia Gaddini said Authors Day serves two major purposes -- encouraging children to read and exposing them to the writing, editing and publishing process.

“It’s an opportunity for them to see how an author works,” she said. “Of course, our goal is to get kids interested in reading.... Research shows that the more children read, the better readers they are.”

Gaddini said she saw a couple of the presentations and thought Kerr, Kalomas and Sir Wrinkles were delightful.

“The kids were very attentive,” she said. “They all enjoyed reading the book and petting the dog.”

After Kalomas read “Sir Wrinkles” aloud to the younger students as Kerr held up giant illustrations, they all lined up to pet the patient pooch. Sir Wrinkles has been trained for events like this, and Kerr showed the students how to put their hand out for doggy kisses.

“He licked me,” 8-year-old Huntington Beach resident Elise Peregrin said with a smile. She said she loved the book and is planning on asking her parents to buy it for her, but her favorite part of the presentation was petting Sir Wrinkles.

Allison Surber, 9, of Costa Mesa said she enjoyed the presentation because she loves animals.

“I like to read books about animals because I like to learn about animals,” Allison said.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM covers education and public safety. She can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or [email protected].

20060126itmgwsncKENT TREPTOW / INDEPENDENT(LA)Sir Wrinkles, star of an eponymous book series, explores the room at Hawes Elementary as children listen to tales about him.