Son inspires Killeen woman to write book about preschool Posted On: Friday, Jul. 24 2009 05:25 AM By Iuliana Petre
Killeen Daily Herald

Just in time for school, 52-year-old Gayle Hardgrave, a Killeen resident and lifelong early childhood educator, recently published her first children's book, "Daniel Goes to Preschool."

Inspired partly by her now 30-year-old son, Daniel, a former Head Start student, and her experience with 3- to 5-year-olds while working as a former educator, Hardgrave wrote "Daniel Goes to Preschool" to help parents and teachers prepare children for the unexpected first-day-of-school events.

"I wrote it on the premise that parents can tell kids the story and prepare them for school. And that it's OK for children to feel excited and scared," Hardgrave said. "If parents couldn't tell the story, then teachers could. I think it's important to prepare kids for the unexpected. The better prepared they are, the better they will adjust to the situation."

Pulling from her experience with Daniel and other children enrolled in day care and Head Start programs where she worked, Hardgrave learned that all children need to be made to feel comfortable.

In "Daniel Goes to Preschool," a 4-year-old Daniel is preparing for his first day of preschool. While in the morning he is excited and singing happily, his excitement turns to sadness on the drive to school. But, later the sadness again turns to excitement when Daniel sees a neighborhood friend in his class.

The book depicts the ups and downs that children can feel during the first day of school.

"That first week of school can be very traumatic for children," Hardgrave said. "Some parents, too, are equally traumatized."

"Daniel Goes to Preschool," written like many books for preschool-aged children, has simple text and large, color images. The book incorporates Spanish words like "escuela," "buenos dias" and "hijo," so that even bilingual children can relate to the story.

"A teacher doesn't have to be fully bilingual to make a child feel comfortable," Hardgrave said. "Even knowing a few Spanish words helps children to feel comfortable."

In her book, Hardgrave includes numerous open-ended questions throughout the story so that teachers or parents can pause during the reading of the text to involve children in conversation.

And in the back of the book is a guide for parents and teachers for activities to do with children that support the concepts of the book.

"I especially liked the cultural diversity in the book along with the hints to the parent/teacher about how to get a child to interact with the printed words. I also found the artwork different and compelling," Janell J. Sherwood of the Head Start Central Texas 4C Inc. in Temple wrote in a review of Hardgrave's book.

"It's a good book to read to a child, especially a Spanish-speaking child, before they start school," said Gordon D. Bacon, the department chair for the early childhood professions program at Central Texas College in Killeen. "It's a book to read with a child who may cry. It says it is OK to have feelings. The story extenders for parents are something you usually don't find in children's books."

Written two years ago, Hardgrave only recently published the book through authorHouse, a self-publishing company, which sells the book on its site at authorhouse.com for $9.95.

The book is also available on amazon.com and through Hardgrave's own Web site at gkconsulting.net.

Contact Iuliana Petre at ipetre@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7469.