I feel honored co-authoring my Boops’ Character Missions. Co-authored with Leslie and John Chapman, my aunt and uncle respectively. Leslie constructed the idea while pregnant with their firstborn, Noah. Noah is our character Boops bought to life! So with a few of the introductions out of the way lets get into the why: why I decided to write a children’s book.
I currently do not have any children myself, but I have three nieces and a nephew, two god-sons, and three cousins (including Noah). All whom are still in their elementary years. I was around that age, the elementary years, when I started reading. Dr Suess was a staple during these early years. When I was a little bit older, and able to read longer that is when the magic happened. Books like The Berenstein Bears, Animorphs, the Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, RL Stine: Goosebumps, and of course Harry Potter. I feel in love with the magic books possess. How they took me away from whatever life was like at home, to new places far and away. Books helped me to dream.
As I grew older I took these dreams with me and they inspired me to create an open-minded view of the world. I continued reading and developing an open-minded view even in my teen and adult years, but the early years set the foundation. This is why I decided to write a children’s book. I believe that the early years of reading can really help shape a world view for children. There is so much knowledge and wisdom to be found in books. To quote Ray Bradbury, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”