Better Literacy? An Age-Old Question

As parents and educators, we ask ourselves the question throughout our adult lives. And if we had literacy problems as kids, we were highly aware of the problem but probably couldn’t put a name to it.

When I was a new teacher of young children, my emphasis was on the how-to part of the reading process.  It was more prescriptive driven than holistic. By that I mean, my aim was to make sure my students could technically read, and I taught them the way I was schooled to do it. And mercifully, most of them achieved.

But as I grew older and became a parent, a paradigm shift occurred within me. Teaching reading is not only a technical thing. What I was neglecting was the heart of the matter. Literacy is about love. Love of the printed word. Wonder at what happens when one opens a book. Anticipation at what lies ahead. How can we achieve that magic today?

Modeling the love of reading to our young ones is the most powerful emotional literacy tool we have. It’s good to have a group of age appropriate books readily available.  Try to locate them in a place of importance, by a sofa in the family room, in the bedroom or the kitchen. That pivotal placement will rub off on the kids!

When I taught pre-service teachers in university, I emphasized the practice of reading the room. Do the same for your young ones. Label their belongings, not just in their rooms but all over the house.  Alphabet magnets are wonderful, particularly at their reaching level. Make your home one of written words. The safety children (should) find there, coupled with the richness of words wherever they look will do wonders for making reading a skill, a skill that exudes warmth and coziness. No room for failure in such an environment.

Let’s not forget the tools for writing and drawing. Manipulating crayons, pencils and waterproof markers is crucial in learning to hold the tool properly. Those squiggles soon turn into primitive letters which lead to the magic of words. Their imaginations and creativity will take over, leading the way to literacy.

Nancy Stewart reading to class during Author Time

Be a teller of stories. Nothing fascinates a child more than hearing their adult loved one talk about a time when s/he was not there. Or a world the story teller is spinning. Or an animal that talks. Or…whatever. Listening is part of literacy, and listening to a person they love and respect is the cherry on top! 

These are but a few suggestions for turning your child’s fertile mind into a blooming garden. It’s so easy, so nurturing, so crucial. If we can put more importance on the love of all things literacy as we do on video games, and television, our children will be the winners. And we will have been the ones to take them to such achievements. That, of course, is the best gift we as caregivers and teachers can give to any youngster. It will change their lives forever.

Belleville Native’s Debut YA Novel was Sparked by Cousin’s Death

My Young adult novel, Beulah Land was published by Interlude Press November 2017. I am publishing the review from my hometown newspaper, the Belleville News Democrat (Belleville, IL.) I am grateful to Caitlin Lally, for the lovely review:

A new, young adult fiction book set in the Missouri Ozarks just hit store shelves, and award-winning author Nancy Rosenthal Stewart, a Belleville native, said she drew inspiration from her environment and her own life situations.

“All of us as human beings are just an amalgam of experiences — that’s all we are. Experiences really define who we are, I think, and who we become,” Stewart said.

For Stewart, growing up alongside her cousin and visiting Lake Taneycomo every summer were the experiences that sparked her first novel “Beulah Land,” which was released in November. The book revolves around the life of 17-year-old girl Violette Sinclair, whose family has lived in the Ozarks for 200 years.

“Most summers, my family and I would spend a week or so in the Ozarks, and I just grew to love it. It’s just a wonderful — a bit rugged — place, but beautiful to visit,” Stewart said. “It really made a bigger impression on me than I thought it did at the time.”

Stewart said Violette’s character was influenced by the life of her late cousin, Jill. “My cousin was gay, and she had a very hard time growing up because ... part of the family simply did not accept her.”

Stewart said she began writing the story after her cousin died three years ago. “At her celebration of life party, the novel ‘Beulah Land’ came to me basically fully formed, it was like a Rubik’s Cube — ch, ch, ch, ch, ch — and there it was.”

According to Stewart, the main character needed to be placed in a difficult environment, and for Violette, that would be the rural Ozarks. “Authors always put their protagonist — hero or heroine — in the hardest place possible (to) give them so many things to overcome. So the Ozarks for a girl who is gay, that’s where she had to go.”

However, both the author and editor said Violette’s sexuality is not the main focus of the story.

“Though Violette Sinclair is definitely facing adversity due to her orientation … that’s not the point of what she’s trying to solve in this book,” Annie Harper, executive editor of Interlude Press, said. “What she’s trying to do is solve a mystery to save her family.”

“Vi, at the end of the day, is a wonderful, courageous human being, who just happens to be gay — it’s just one little facet of her life. The rest of her life is so much more,” Stewart said.

A publisher of LGBTQ fiction, Interlude Press has a young adult offshoot called Duet Books, through which “Beulah Land” was produced. Harper said it was important to publish the novel because of what the main character represents.

“She doesn’t just survive — she triumphs,” Harper said. “We don’t have enough stories about girls and women driving the story, driving the action, solving the problem, you know, without necessarily relying on someone else to do it for them.”

Stewart said she caught the attention of publishers after “Beulah Land” won an award in 2015 for being the top book in the state of Florida, where she currently resides. “Believe me, no one was more surprised than I was,” Stewart said.

While some may avoid the young adult section of the bookstore for one reason or another, Stewart said this narrative is not just for teen readers.

“The most important people to read it, I think, would be young people who are just learning about themselves; young people who are conflicted, perhaps, about their sexuality, but having said that, I would really like for their parents to read it, too,” Stewart said. “I really think it is a book for all people because it doesn’t just only deal with a gay girl — it deals with truth, and it deals with honesty, and it deals with valor.”

About the author

Just as Violette’s family roots run deep, so do Stewart’s. She said her family has lived in the Belleville area for nearly 100 years.

“I’m so fortunate to have grown up in the Midwest, with Midwestern values. I think that Belleville was a great place to grow up,” Stewart said. “I know that smaller communities sometimes get a bad rap, but I don’t feel that way. Belleville will always have a very warm spot in my heart.”

An alumna of Washington University in St. Louis, Stewart went into education and found herself at McKendree Universityteaching children’s and young adult literature when she began to consider writing as a career.

“During those years, I began to toy with the idea of writing, and over about a four- or five-year period it just became clear to me that I wanted to write.”

Stewart has published five children’s books in addition to “Beulah Land.”

Retail price for “Beulah Land” is $15.99. This and other books by Stewart can be purchased on Amazon, at www.nancystewartbooks.com or at Barnes & Noble.