S2EP45-Christine Devane-Get Lit with Elephants: Storytime Shenanigans

Herb: 00:00:19

I now have the pleasure of introducing Christine Devane. Christine is a lifelong lover of animals and stories, especially elephants, which have been her favorite.

Or animals and stories, especially elephants, which have been her favorite since childhood.

After earning her bachelor's and master's degree in elementary education from Merrimack College, she spent 13 years teaching, where her favorite part of the day was reading aloud and connecting with her students through books. Inspired by those moments, Christina wrote her first children's book, Elephant Beach.

Blending her love of storytelling, teaching, and elephants, she now shares stories and beach adventures with her husband John, and their three children and their dog, Sophie. Welcome, Christine. It is a pleasure to have you here today. Thank you for joining us.

Christine Devane: 00:01:06

Hi. Thank you so much for having me on the show today.

Kristina: 00:01:09

You know, we have a lot in common. You were a teacher for 13 years. I was a teacher for 27 years.

And what you said in your bio, your favorite part of the day was sharing those stories with the kids, basically. Read aloud time. Yeah, we have a lot to talk about today. We're going to encourage parents to do so much more.

So talk a little bit more about that pivot point. Right. You decide to leave the classroom and publish books and kind of do speaking around this topic instead. What was that pivot point?

What kind of sent you off in this direction?

Christine Devane: 00:01:38

So when I was teaching, I as we talked about love story time.

So it was the best part of the day because we got to read a book and we talked a lot about social skills because most stories do have social skills in them. And I realized that there really weren't a lot of books that dealt with being shy. And when I was young, I was extremely shy.

So I wanted to write a book to help shy kids. So what I started doing was looking online and looking for groups, and I joined a group called the scbwi. I started going to conferences.

They had one in Springfield, one in New York City. Then I joined local author groups, and they were really great because you could bring your stories and your ideas and get critiques and feedback.

And it really got me excited about writing, and it really got me to want to publish my own book. And I worked really hard on it. I sent it out everywhere.

And then it's funny, I didn't hear from anyone for a while, and I left teaching because I have three small kids. And then it just worked out that somebody reached out to me last year, and now my kids are a little bit bigger. Some are in school, some are so home.

But it gives me more time to focus on the book and get more into doing these podcasts, which I find very fun and rewarding.

So it's been a little bit of a twist, but it's still dealing with children and getting to talk about social skills and helping children to enjoy books.

Kristina: 00:03:08

That is a great pivot, and I absolutely love that. Because, you know, we always tell our parents as teachers, like, if anything else, please just read to your children. Right.

And lots of parents like, okay, awesome, I can read a story. But then they kind of. Some are very natural about asking questions or engaging the kids with the story, and others just kind of sit there and read.

So that's one of the things I was hoping that today, as we talk through this love of reading and sharing stories and sharing those emotional skills as well, is that we can help parents with that idea of what makes story time fun, what makes story time engaging for your kiddo. Instead of just sitting there and reading the book, what else can you do? So what's your first tip? Right.

If your parent is going to sit down and read with the kiddo, what's one thing that they can do to really make sure the kids are engaging with that story?

Christine Devane: 00:03:55

So my first tip actually happens before sitting down and reading the book.

And it would be to get your child into the library, because the library is a wonderful resource, and kids can go and pick their own books, pick their own topics, find something new that they want to read, and it really gets them engaged and gets them enjoying stories rather than just being a parent and finding books online that you think your kids might like. I think it's great to actually bring them to the library and let them pick the book.

So I take my kids all the time, and sometimes they pick books that I would have picked for them, but sometimes they pick very random things that I would have never in a million years picked for them.

But that's the great thing about going to the library, is there's books on every topic, and they can find something that they might not have found if I was picking it for them.

So I tell parents that that's the first thing to do to get your kids to really enjoy reading, get everybody engaged, is to just take a trip to the library. And the best thing is it doesn't cost any money. So if you buy books and they don't like them, then you're stuck with them.

But if you go to the library, you can get as many as you want and bring them back the next week. So that, I think, is the most important thing.

Kristina: 00:05:12

Yes, absolutely. That. Yeah, that totally makes so much Sense.

And, you know, that's why a lot of schools, of course, have full complete libraries and they try to get the kids to check out books every week and things. Exactly. So they are making those choices. What if you think that your child is constantly picking the wrong kinds of books for them, though?

Like the wrong level? Because I know some of them we read to them and other ones they want to read. What would you give parents and I a tip on that?

Christine Devane: 00:05:40

So I wouldn't discourage them if you think the book is too hard. I would just try to get some other books that might be on their level.

So my son comes home, he's in first grade, and he picks out some books that sometimes might be too hard for him. But I have books that are on his level. So I don't want to say, oh, don't get books like that, because I don't want to discourage it.

I might just say, okay, well, let's try this book and that book. So we do something in addition. So it's not telling him not to get those books.

But a lot of librarians are pretty good at the schools with telling them. And he has a paper that has the five finger rule. And they're.

They really try to encourage them to get books that are on their level, but I mean, every once in a while they do get one that is too hard.

Kristina: 00:06:25

Exactly. Because the librarians are the same way, trying to encourage them to read, not discourage them. So they aren't going to tell them no all the time.

Right.

I remember my librarian in the school I was working at, she would always say, pick one that you really, really want and then pick one that has to fit the five finger rule that you were just talking about. Just so they kind of had a choice of both the books when they went home.

Christine Devane: 00:06:46

Yeah, yeah, I think that's.

Herb: 00:06:47

I read too hard of a book one time, probably fourth or fifth grade. Took me several months to read it. It was called Watership Down. Way over my level. But I was gonna, I was gonna push my way through that book.

It was one of the last times I picked a book that was that high over my level because I hated not finishing books. And I can, I can only at this point in my life remember two books that I haven't finished. So.

Yeah, so be careful if, if you're like obsessive compulsive and you have to finish to make sure you get something you can finish.

Kristina: 00:07:19

There's there.

Herb: 00:07:21

I also have to say something about.

Also as a parent, you really need to pay attention and Read the books with your kids, because at this time there's also lots of themes that you might not necessarily agree with. And so if, if. How do you talk with your.

To your children if, like, oh, I really want to read a book, but as your family values, it might not necessarily align.

Christine Devane: 00:07:47

So if they're picking out books that you don't want them to read, I guess you could talk to them and explain why or maybe give them something that you think is a better choice. So instead of I try to not just say no, I try to say no, and let's do this one instead.

So that's kind of how I work it with my kids, because if you just say no, then they're going to get frustrated. But I think if you say no and then you have something else or explain to them something, well, let's pick this one instead.

I actually haven't had that come up, but that is a good question because my kids are small, so I'm sure at some point it's going to happen where they bring home a book that might have something that I haven't discussed with them. So it's something that I will have to figure out for myself, too, as we get there.

Herb: 00:08:36

There also might be some parents that might hesitate to letting their children choose for that reason. And so then there needs to be a discussion on how do we let them choose. But then talk about what restrictions.

Kristina: 00:08:52

Right. Yeah.

Herb: 00:08:53

For better words, because guidelines.

Christine Devane: 00:08:55

Yeah. When I do go to the library with my kids, I do bring this stack over and I check the books before we check them out.

So he's not just getting 25 books, checking them out, putting them in the bag, and I have no idea what they are.

So I do have him pick the books and check them and make sure, because there have been a couple of times when he picked things that I knew were a little, like, confusing for him. So I have them. Him put them back. But yeah, I would just monitor them, let them make their decisions, but just do a little bit of monitoring.

So I wouldn't just let them go to the library, pick everything and not look at it. So just check as you're going. Use your guidelines.

Kristina: 00:09:38

Yeah, I know libraries are different, like, all over the country, but they have the basic books, of course. What other cool things do you find at the library?

Because maybe some of our parents who are listening haven't been there in a while and something else you know is at your library might spark their interest and get them to go to the library as well.

Christine Devane: 00:09:55

So our library is great they have a lot of really fun programs that my kids go to, and they're free, which is amazing. So my older son loves to build Legos.

So every Friday of the month, well, first Friday of the month, they have a LEGO building session that he really looks forward to. So it's an hour. All the kids go in there and they play with the Legos and they read LEGO books, and then they get to build whatever they want.

But it shows them that the Legos are tied to books. And then it also gives them some creativity to build their own LEGO thing in there.

And then my son, my middle one, loves bugs, and they had a reading to worms thing. So they had books on worms and then they brought in worms.

And he just thought it was the most interesting thing ever because there was real worms in there. And then we went. They had a Shark Week party. They do a lot of activities. They also have story times for small kids.

So I tell parents all the time to check out the local library, look at their activities, and try to get your kids going to the activities as well, because then they think of the library as a fun place where we can go and learn. And we're not just going and picking out books, because I have the way it is right now. My kids love going to the library, which is nice.

So they like going to the activities there. And then they also like going to pick up books. But like I said, it's all free, too, which is great. You know, I actually just. Oh, sorry, go ahead.

Herb: 00:11:30

As you were talking, it was bringing up lots of memories for me, and that's actually a pretty cool thing because I hurt my head and have lots of brain damage and lots of my memories are gone. So sometimes. So as you're talking, I'm almost hearing. I remember going to the library for us. We lived 50 miles from.

From a library, so we would go once a week and grab a whole bunch of books. And yeah, I remember that. I remember my mom reading to me.

I don't necessarily remember her stopping and asking questions, but I remember learning how to read because I didn't want my mom to stop. And she. I would, like, watch her read and watch her read, and then when she was done, I would pretend I was reading.

And then one day I realized I was. So that kind of stuff was, like, super duper fabulously important to me. And so.

So thank you for bringing up these memories because, you know, here I am, 55, remembering when I was less than 10 years old, and that's. That doesn't happen for me. Very often anymore. And so.

So having these memories, it's like, make these memories with your kids, too, because, wow, looking back, it's like my mom reading to me, going to the library sometimes the story times in the library. I. I remember one of those stories because I asked a question and I got embarrassed. And still.

And so still, it's like I remember that story years and years later. So fabulous, fabulous memory. So. So thank you. And it's important for your kids, so thank you for what you're doing there, too.

Christine Devane: 00:13:04

Well, I'm glad that you have such nice memories from the library, and hopefully our listeners will also have nice memories of the library, know how important it is for their children, and I'm sure that they will also have those memories growing up.

Kristina: 00:13:19

Yeah, exactly. So you have always loved elephants. That's what it said in your bio. And I think you even got to take a trip to go to Africa.

Right, and see the elephants. Yes. Yeah, exactly.

If you could invite one of those elements to your story time with you and your family, what book do you think they would enjoy the most? Let's talk about elephants for a little bit.

Christine Devane: 00:13:42

So it's funny, I, growing up, just always was drawn to elephants, and my parents and grandparents always brought me elephants. So I have a large collection of elephants. And I just think they're great because they're so social, they're kind, they're really warm animals.

They are caring. So I thought it would be a great character for a book. And they're also funny because of their size. So that's why I thought they'd be good for a book.

But if I were to bring it to a story time, I would probably read. Right now we're reading Grumpy Monkey books. My kids love those books.

They're silly books about a monkey, and sometimes he gets irritated with the other animals. But I think an elephant would really enjoy those books because it has other animals in it.

Kristina: 00:14:31

I love that. Yeah, that makes so much sense. And then, you know, I'm thinking about reading it with the children and things like that.

One thing that I always love doing was that if there was like a repeated phrase in the book, when the kids caught on to it, I would let. I would pause and let them put the repeated phrase in the book. And that really got them engaged.

So I could see like animal voices or something with all the elephants and the different animals.

Christine Devane: 00:14:55

Yes. There is actually an elephant in some of those books. So I think that the elephant having a real one would make for a great story time.

Kristina: 00:15:04

Yeah, exactly. Now your book is Elephant Beach. Elephants don't usually go to beaches. So how did you make that connection? And why. Why did that happen in your book?

Herb: 00:15:13

And I can see it just. Just behind me.

Kristina: 00:15:15

Just over your shoulder. Yep.

Christine Devane: 00:15:18

So it's funny, when I was trying to come up with an idea for the book, I kind of put all of my favorite things together into a book. Always enjoyed going to the beach.

When I was younger, my grandparents lived very close to the beach, and I know a lot of kids enjoy going to the beach, so I thought it would be a good setting because a lot of kids can relate to the beach and they like to talk about it. And then, yeah, elephants were my favorite animals, so I threw them in there.

And then the little girl is very shy as I was growing up, and I wanted to be able to focus on her and get her voice to be heard.

Kristina: 00:15:56

So.

Christine Devane: 00:15:56

So kind of just put them all together.

Kristina: 00:15:59

I love that.

And, you know, it's so important, like you said, whenever we make those connections between the books and then, like, the social issues or social problems that your child is having, if they're shy, maybe they're too loud and noisy. So then you get a book about a character that's too loud and noisy and how they handled settling down.

There's so many different things that parents can do with books that really help their kids.

Herb: 00:16:20

So you were pretty shy growing up.

Kristina: 00:16:21

I was.

Herb: 00:16:22

And you became a teacher. And you were pretty shy growing up, and you became a teacher. And so shy people want to stand up in front of lots of kids and teach.

It doesn't make sense to me. And now. And now you're on podcasts. So how. How does a shy person develop the tools to be able to put them to be able to.

Because you'll always be shy, but how do you build the tools to be shy and still step forward?

Christine Devane: 00:16:51

So I think with teaching, I started to do a lot of. Well, I started to have a lot of jobs that worked with kids that wasn't exactly teaching. So I started with after school programs.

I started babysitting a lot. And so I really became comfortable with doing certain activities with kids and teaching them.

And then when it came time for me to have my own classroom, I had been working with kids for so long, I was more comfortable doing it. I did not like teaching in front of other adults because that still made me nervous.

But teaching in front of kids is different because kids aren't really judging you as much. They're a much easier audience. So that I could handle.

And then Doing the podcast I like because for the most part it's one or two people on one, so it's not a whole room full of people watching you. Although there's a lot of people that listen at the time. It's not as intimidating to just be in front of one or two people.

So I think that you just have to kind of step out of your comfort zone, but know your limits. So I'm not going to go sign up to be a guest speaker anywhere because that would make me way too nervous.

But signing up to do podcasts is something that I've really enjoyed. And with a book, you have to do some sort of press, so you have to get yourself out there or nobody's going to know about the book.

Kristina: 00:18:14

Exactly. And I, I so totally resonate with what you were just saying. Kids, no problem. You can put me in a front of a group of kids. I'm there all day long.

You put me in front of parents.

Herb: 00:18:23

Kids your same age. No kids your same age. It's. It's different.

Kristina: 00:18:28

It is different. But yeah, I mean, I hated back to school night when I had to stand in front of my.

Christine Devane: 00:18:33

Yes, me too.

Kristina: 00:18:34

Talk to my parents. That was like the most nerve wracking night of the whole school year. And people are like, but you do it all the time.

You're in front of people all the time. It's like, yeah, but they aren't another adult.

Christine Devane: 00:18:44

Yes. Yes.

I actually was just thinking that because I had to go to my son's back to school night and I was thinking how much I used to dread him back to school night because, yeah, it's just a room full of adults watching you and it is, it's very intimidating. Whereas a bunch of kids, it's much different.

Kristina: 00:19:02

It is awesome. Let's jump back to another parent tip. How can parents make sure that this story time is also engaging for their kiddos?

So you said number one is actually before story time, having the kids pick the books. What's another thing that parents can do to really make this a good solid learning time, but fun time for their kids.

Christine Devane: 00:19:21

So I also encourage parents to sometimes, if you have them use props because they remember the book.

So with the elephant book, when I go and do school readings, I bring in towels and sunglasses and a beach ball and the kids love it and it brings more meaning to the book.

So sometimes if you're reading a book and say, like, we're reading the grumpy monkey book, if my kids have a stuffed monkey or something like that, then we Bring it along to read the book. And also picking books that are of interest to your kids I think definitely helps with the story time. So my two boys love cars and trucks.

We have read a lot of cars and trucks books, but they like cars and trucks, so they're going to enjoy books about cars and trucks.

So I think that if you find books that spark some sort of interest for your child, that also is going to make it more meaningful because if you're going to read them a book that they have no interest in, then they're not really going to remember it.

Herb: 00:20:24

Okay. So there's a lot of parents who are so aren't very comfortable reading either.

It's like national statistics is like less than half the people in the United States can read at or above a sixth grade reading level.

So for those parents who now are realizing, oh yeah, I really wish I could read to my kids, but I'm not good at it, how do we help those parents get story time with their kids when with their involvement so that it's not just, it's not just YouTube time, it's still parent reading time, even if the parents aren't necessarily the ones reading.

Christine Devane: 00:21:01

So there are actually a lot of videos that have people reading books.

So if you are someone that's struggling reading yourself, there is, I don't know the website off the top of my head, but my friend was telling me about it. There's a woman that reads the picture book and it's exactly like a read aloud.

It's not them just watching a YouTube video of cars and trucks like playing. It's an actual person reading a book and there's a lot of them. So if people are struggling with reading themselves, then they could go and do that.

They could look up someone reading the book for them.

I think that they have websites where you can watch people, but I think they also have websites where you can listen to people and there's just someone reading the book out loud.

Herb: 00:21:50

So maybe having somebody else read it while you turn the page locally would be.

Kristina: 00:21:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you can find the same book. Yeah. And then the other thing is that you saw the control button, right? You have that pause button.

So if you want to ask your child a question or discussion part of the book, you've got that pause button to say, you know, they're reading but we're going to pause them. Let's talk about this right now. Exactly, yeah, yeah.

Christine Devane: 00:22:10

I wish I could remember. It was something story time. And this woman, she dresses up in all different costumes and Stuff like that.

And she always has her nails done with all different things to go along with the theme. But she. I, I think it's kids time, story time, now that I think about it. But she has.

Kristina: 00:22:29

She does.

Christine Devane: 00:22:30

She reads aloud the books. And it's a great resource for parents that aren't comfortable doing it themselves because the kid is still seeing a book being read.

Kristina: 00:22:38

Yeah, I love that.

Christine Devane: 00:22:40

Yeah.

Kristina: 00:22:40

And. Yeah.

And if you can find the same exact book in the library and actually have the physical book there, like you were suggesting, that's even another connection. Right. So someone else is reading, but you're still right there with your kid. Yeah.

Herb: 00:22:49

When I was a kid, you might not remember, we had these cassette tapes and you would put a cassette tape in and then you would have a book. And at the time. At the time. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Back when.

Christine Devane: 00:23:00

I do remember those.

Herb: 00:23:01

Yeah. And you would press play and a lot of it, for us, it was like a Disney series and, and it'd be.

And then you would change a page and then there would be words and there would be pictures and then there would be a ding and you would know when to turn the page. And eventually it's like you could. Again, great way to start reading. So I remember those as a kid now, too. So another, another great.

Christine Devane: 00:23:23

I do remember those too.

And now that you're saying that, I remember how there was a sound because sometimes with the Disney ones, it was a magical sound and then you turned the page. So I do remember those.

Kristina: 00:23:35

Yeah. And I know that they evolved. Right.

Because of course, we had cassette tapes way back when, and then it evolved to CDs because a lot of people had CD players, etc, so. And I think the library probably still has some of those.

If, you know, if you can check out a CD player, you have one at your house and, and go ask, go ask your librarian because you never know what might pop up. And then, of course, just regular audiobooks, if you have the. What is it? The audible subscriptions.

Herb: 00:24:00

Oh, if you go to the library. Most library systems that have a free. Have an online version and an online app.

And the amount of books that you can get free from the library online is. Is amazing.

Christine Devane: 00:24:13

Oh, that's amazing. All right.

Kristina: 00:24:16

So what else? One more thing. What else makes story time super magical or engaging for kiddos? We've talked about making sure that they're interested in the book.

You've talked about, you know, puppets or stuffed animal or something. Is there something else that really connects with story time that really Makes it.

Christine Devane: 00:24:32

Engaging, I would say, just trying to make it fun. So don't just read the words on the page. Sometimes if you bring it to life or act things out or.

Or say things louder or quieter, then the kids get really involved in it. We were reading a Halloween book the other day and my kids loved it because they were yelling boo.

Because on every page you were trying to figure out the ghost. But instead of just saying boo, we were loudly saying it.

So I think sometimes just being expressive when you read a book with kids makes it so that they enjoy it more rather than just reading the words on the page. And it really got them. It was funny because it was a board big, so it was a board book. So it was a smaller book.

And all three of them loved it because they were just so into yelling, trying to figure out who was the scary creature in the book.

Kristina: 00:25:28

That is fun. Yeah, exactly. Like you said, expressive, making voices for the characters.

All those different things that really help out and, you know, engage the kids, have them create the voice. It's like, oh, what do you want this one to sound like? What do you want that one to sound like?

Herb: 00:25:42

So is there a difference between, like bedtime reading and just afternoon time reading? Because for me, sometimes it was like I would start thinking about the story and it'd be hard for me to fall asleep. Sometimes I would.

I would put me right to sleep. So it was kind of very dark. Or is that a good habit to build? Or is it a. Is it a nice to have like a consistent time during the day?

Is there, is there a different reading time that that's better than another?

Christine Devane: 00:26:11

I honestly think whatever time you're reading with your kids is the best time. For me, we like to read books before we go to bed because they all wind down.

They know it's part of their routine, so they brush their teeth, they come upstairs, and then they pick whose room they're going to go in and then that person picks the book. So it's part of their routine, getting them to calm down and get ready for bed.

But honestly, whenever you pick to read with kids is a great time of the day because it is something that's so important that I really don't think it matters. It just depends on your family and what works for you. And for my kids, that's what they like to do.

Kristina: 00:26:52

Yeah, I really like that.

And it was amazing at a classroom teacher, though, whenever the kids really got engaged, especially like when they got a little bit older and got into chapter books, they'd be Begging, it's like, oh, we don't have time for read aloud today. And they're like, are you kidding? What about just five minutes before we go to the bus or something?

So, yeah, whenever, you know, you get that habit routine, the kids actually start asking for it. They're begging for it. Like, don't forget, we need to do this today.

Herb: 00:27:17

Yeah. I was very undisciplined with books though.

So I again, I couldn't read before going to bed because sometimes at like five or six o' clock in the morning, be like, oh, I got to get up in two hours. Oh, but this I got to just finish. So I would sometimes read all night.

Kristina: 00:27:33

So. Okay, yeah. How do we become that parents, like, put the books down.

Christine Devane: 00:27:40

I haven't gotten there yet because my kids are small.

But they do sometimes try to squeeze in a few more books because sometimes we do three and they each pick one and then sometimes they'll say, oh, can we do more? Can we do another one? Can we do another one? So they do do that sometimes.

Kristina: 00:27:57

Yeah, yeah. And it's just.

Herb: 00:27:59

That's such a horrible problem to have. Can you read more?

Kristina: 00:28:05

Yeah. I was, I was a horrible parent because my son loved books so much that he would take them to class, middle school, high school.

And I actually had to tell the teachers, no, you have to be stern, take the book away or else he will not pay attention in class.

Herb: 00:28:20

It's kind of weird.

Kristina: 00:28:21

It was a horrible, horrible.

Herb: 00:28:22

One of our punishments for a while was, was taking his books away.

Kristina: 00:28:28

Oh my goodness. Yeah. But no, that's the joy of reading and learning because they can take you to so many places. Right. So have you thought your next book.

Where is your next book going to take? Take the audience you want to share.

Christine Devane: 00:28:41

So I actually have two books in the works on very different topics.

But my first book I wrote, it's called Grandpa Dolly and it actually deals with death and loss because when I was teaching, I found that usually there was one child that would have a loss in their family, either parent, pet, grandparent. And we would just get an email saying, oh, so and so had a death in the family. And then you don't want to upset the child and talk to them.

So it was kind of something I never really knew how to deal with. And I feel like having a book to read to the class, you can say, oh, I see you. I know what's going on without actually making the child feel bad.

So the book is loosely based on my own grandfather, so we were very close. He didn't pass away when I was little.

But it shows a little girl and she does all these things with her grandfather and her doll and then he passes away. But in order to remember him, she does all the things with the doll in his memory.

So it shows that we can do things to remember the person and make ourselves feel happy. And it also shows that you can be sad too. But it will hopefully help kids dealing with grief and loss.

Because a lot of times we just get the email, oh, this happened. And then there's not really any conversations, no follow through. So I was hoping to do something that would help kids in that way.

Kristina: 00:30:13

I love that because that's one of the things I speak about with parents is like, you know, and that email is so important.

You need to let the teachers know when something big in your life is happening because that way the parent, the teacher can be there to support the child. Right. So I really love that you brought that up and you know, yeah, it's right. Yeah.

You don't want to cause any more harm or cause the child to be sad, but letting them know they're supported in that other space outside of their family, so very, very important.

Herb: 00:30:42

Yeah. I kind of have a, kind of a different view on that. I think around this topic, we almost, we keep our children from death too much and it's an.

It's a part of life. They're never going to get away from it. They inlet, well, unless they're the ones who die, but they're not going to get away from it ever.

So to not have that as part of their education growing up, to me, that, that, that pushes a can down the road that can be handled much easier when they're young. So I'm glad you're writing a book about it and to help people with it because so it's like you hardly ever see children at funerals anymore.

And so it's like it's part of life, you know, it's.

Kristina: 00:31:21

They need Exactly.

Herb: 00:31:23

To be involved with that part of life as well.

Christine Devane: 00:31:27

Exactly. And I just want kids to have an example to see, oh, well, she was sad.

But then there's ways to remember the person and think about them and think about their memory and we don't just have to forget about them.

But like you said, it is something that a lot of parents and schools don't really teach children and a lot of kids have to deal with it in some particular way. Most of the times it's pets first. I mean, I can remember that was the first loss I had in My family was our dog.

And it's just something that, yeah, everybody's going to have to deal with at some point, and we don't really tell people how or help them in many ways. So, yeah, I was just hoping that the book would kind of help kids and also teachers and parents.

Kristina: 00:32:18

Yeah, we absolutely love that.

Herb: 00:32:20

We started with rodents, rats, and mice, because you got. You got two or three years, and you don't necessarily get that attached to them. Our Last dog was 19 years old, and so that. That's too long.

Kristina: 00:32:32

Wow, that was a tough one.

Herb: 00:32:33

That was. That was a tough one. Yeah, but, yeah, completely. Get a guinea pigs, rats, mice, fun, fun little animals that don't necessarily last too long. That's.

That's kind of how we started it. And intentionally as well.

Kristina: 00:32:48

Yeah, exactly. And the next book that's coming up someplace other.

Christine Devane: 00:32:53

Oh, yes. And then I have another book that's totally different topic, but it's Alphabet book.

So my kids love Alphabet books, especially since they're learning the Alphabet. They like to point out the letters and words. So it's called Letters and Sounds with Lola and Sophie. So Lola was my dog.

She actually passed away, and Sophie is my dog now. And they're extremely different personalities. So the book shows the two dogs together. So Sophie is kind of goofy, can get herself into trouble.

She's always digging outside. And Lola was a tiny Chihuahua that loved her jacket. She was very dainty, very quiet.

So although they didn't actually live together in real life, just picturing them together in my head made for a funny story. So that's an Alphabet book that'll be coming out with the two dogs.

And like I said, that one was definitely made a lot because of my children, because I saw how much they loved the Alphabet books. And we have a lot of truck and airplane Alphabet books, so I thought that I would write my own.

Kristina: 00:34:00

Awesome. That is wonderful. All right, do you have one more way that parents can engage their kiddos when it's story time?

Christine Devane: 00:34:11

Sometimes, I guess if you really want to get into story time, you could do, like, outfits or music or do a theme, things like that. That's if you really want to go over the top with the story time.

Right now my kids are very into Halloween, so we're doing a lot of Halloween books, which they look forward to, and they like that. And I would also tell parents, too, that it's okay to repeat the same book, because sometimes kids learn it, they memorize it.

The repetition is good for them. So you don't always have to Find new books for story time. You can pick up the same book that they've read 20 times and listen to them read it to you.

So we do that with some of our books because it just shows how they are paying attention and they're focused on learning it, and then they can actually speak the words to you. They might not be reading it, but it might be something that they've memorized.

Kristina: 00:35:08

Yeah.

Herb: 00:35:08

Yeah. Some. Some brain types really thrive on getting lots of new information, and they want a new story every time.

And some brains feel so much more comfortable in the familiarity of an old story, and it fits like a warm blanket, and the new stuff is uncomfortable, so you know it. There's.

Kristina: 00:35:26

You pay attention.

Herb: 00:35:27

Learn your child's personality type. If they have a couple of favorite stories, just keep at it.

Kristina: 00:35:34

And.

Herb: 00:35:34

And you will build deep memories with them. Even if you don't miss, even if you get tired of it.

Kristina: 00:35:39

We have to read.

Christine Devane: 00:35:40

It's funny. My kids. My kids are like that. So my older one likes exciting new things all the time.

My middle one loves things that are familiar with him, so he could watch the same movie 3,000 times. We watched Jack Skeleton 3,000 times. He just wants to keep same with the books. He wants the same book over and over and over again.

Where my other son wants the new stuff, and my daughter, she's only two, but she is kind of showing signs of both. But it's funny because the older two are very different, so we just have to make it work.

If you want to keep reading new books for your book that you picked up, that's fine. So I let them each pick one book. So my middle son very often picks the same book over and over again. But, you know, that's what he likes.

Herb: 00:36:25

For one of them, it's scary. For one of them, it's comfortable. For one of them, it's boring. And it's. Yeah, personalities are amazing. It's like, yeah, your children are amazing.

Learn them. Figure it out, and make it work for all of you.

Christine Devane: 00:36:39

Exactly. Perfect.

Kristina: 00:36:40

Christine, this has been a great conversation.

I really hope that all of our parents, our audience out there has been really, you know, really thinking about, ooh, how can I make story time a little bit more exciting? Or if they haven't done story time yet, maybe this will give them some enough ideas to make story time happen in their.

In their home, not their classroom. But anyway, thank you so much for being here. Is there anything that we haven't talked about today that you kind of wanted to talk about?

And of course, I also want you to share information about you and how to get your book and things like that.

Christine Devane: 00:37:10

Well, thank you so much for having me on the show today. I really enjoyed it. And my book is on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and then Archway Publishing.

And I also have a website, Christine Devane, so people can find me there. And if anybody wants me to come do story times or things like that, then they can click right on the link and I think that's it.

But thank you so much. This has been really fun.

Kristina: 00:37:37

Awesome. Thank you as well. Any other questions from you?

Herb: 00:37:42

No, I'm really good. I would like to thank you for being here.

You know, in a day and age where so many people just talk about problems and they don't do anything to fix it, you're out there trying to make the world a better place. You're writing books, you're having story time for children. And, you know, the children are our future.

And that's why we do this podcast to help parents help their children. So thank you for what you do.

Thank you for being here today, and thank you for sharing yourself and your talents with the world, even though you're shy.

Christine Devane: 00:38:09

Well, thank you so much for having me on.

Kristina: 00:38:12

You are very, very welcome and we. It was a pleasure. So glad you were here.

All right, audience, you know, it is time to love, like, share, do everything you do with podcast recordings so that other families can get the same information and maybe help them spark a new story time in their life. So until next time, thank you for being here. Click like and share and we will talk to you later. Bye for now.