I am back with a few more questions posed to me by inquisitive young readers of my book about Reg. I had an opportunity recently to read to a few students here in Prince Edward Island. Here are some more questions those children asked me, about Reg and his adventures.
What made you want to write the book?
What made me want to write the book was that I felt it was an important topic to cover and book to write. I realized that children like stories with a message, as do parents and teachers. So, I thought I would combine a lot of different ideas and put them all together as a book. I also wrote the book for children. It was inspired by the children I work with as a school counsellor.
Why did you choose a bear for the main character?
I chose a bear because I love bears! As a child (and still as an adult), I love Winnie the Pooh, the Berenstain Bears, Paddington Bear, Cordory, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and I LOVE the book by Robert McCloskey called “Blueberries for Sal” which features a bear (I thought of that book a lot when I wrote my book).
Why did you choose that title?
I chose that title as it was simple and catchy! I wanted to make it clear that the book had a simple theme, and also I wanted to be sure that the message was clear. This is a book about a bear who goes swimming! But as you know, it is also about so much more than that! There are layers to this book beyond the simple act of swimming.
Why did Reg love swimming?
Reg loves to swim…because that is what bears like to do! But I also know kids like to swim, too. I hoped that the book would resonate with kids and make a connection. I think Reg likes to swim…and so do many children, as well. So, the book focuses on that activity in the hope of making a connection.
Here are some more answers to children’s questions:
Did you make it for someone? I wrote this book for students. I am a school counsellor, and I wrote the book to help all the students I work with, as well as those I will work with in the future. But the book was dedicated to my four children: Sam, Maggie, Sarah and MaryAnne, as well as to my mom who always read to me from infancy. She was the inspiration for me to be a writer!
How long did it take you to make this book? It took me about an hour to pen the words to this book. However, the process of editing, revising and publishing took a year and a half!
Why does the bear love swimming? Bears are swimmers for survival, as this is how they catch their food. Here are some fun facts about bears that I discovered while writing my book.
Ten of the Many Cool Facts I learned about Black Bears While Writing This Book:
- Black bears seem awkward and bulky, but they travel fast, at a speed up to 55 km/hour.
- Often, black bears have a white patch below the throat or across the chest.
- Not all black bears are black. Some have been known to be brown, dark brown, blond, cinnamon and blue-black. There have even been albino black bears that have white fur, red eyes and red noses.
- The cry of a young cub in trouble is much like the cry of a human baby.
- Black bears are hard to count accurately, as they are shy and keep to themselves.
- Black bears are not true hibernators, as they can be roused when prodded. That is why Reg only woke from a long winter’s nap, not from hibernation.
- A bear’s lips are free from the gums, allowing them to be used, along with the tongue, to eat small foods like ants and blueberries. This physical feature is unlike that of other animals.
- Bears are not found on Prince Edward Island, the only province in Canada to not shelter this unique animal.
- Bears do not prefer honey as much as they enjoy the larvae they find in the hives.
- While black bears can age up to 25-30 years, most bears in the wild live only to be 10 years old.
Info above on black bears obtained from https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/mammals/black-bear.html….
Is this your first book? No, I was part of another book project for adults. That book was called “Inside the Classroom: Stories of Curriculum and Creativity”. Here is the link to that book> https://islandstudiespress.com/inside-the-classroom/
Why did you write this book? I wrote this book for so many reasons: to help kids and parents gain skills and tips on what to do when they have big worries; I also wrote this book because I love to write, and I wanted to challenge myself; but I also wrote this book because I couldn’t find a book on this topic and so I decided to write one myself; and also I wrote it because writing a book was on my bucket list! I could go on, as there are so many reasons I wrote this book.
Does Reg have a mom or a dad? He does have a mom and dad, but they do not show up in this book. The reason why is that I wanted to keep my storyline as simple as possible. Too many characters might make things too busy and complicated.
For these and other questions and to all the students and children out there who have come to discover Reg: THANK YOU! I wrote this book for all the children I hoped would someday read my book. I wrote this book for YOU!
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