By, Pam Teel
First time author, Helene Greenstein, has been storytelling for as long as she remembers, first for her own children when they were young and then for her grandchildren. Deriving her stories from her love for fables and fairytales, Helene wanted to write her own children’s book; one which teaches children kindness, courage, and strength to overcome challenges in their life.
Taking her knowledge from her background in speech therapy, Helene set out to create a story filled with words that are hard to pronounce for those youngsters with speech challenges. Using common challenging letters and letter combinations throughout her book, she engages children into the story of Chuckle’s adventure. Along with the captivating illustrations, the book allows children to hear and practice vocalizing complex combinations and develop those sounds through repetition. When a movement is repeated overtime, the brain may create memory for that task allowing it to eventually be performed with little or no conscious effort.
The story follows a bunny named Chuckles and his journey of self-discovery. There are many teaching points throughout the book. The moral of this story is that you are beautiful no matter what challenges you face. The book is brilliantly illustrated by an artist friend of the author, Barbara Zagha of Manalapan. Helene’s goals are to write more stories for young children ages 3-10, with a concentration on challenging sounds and letters. You can find the book, Chuckles, on Amazon.com.