In a MS Winter
Content
“ I n a M i s s i s s i pp i w i n t e r, we h a v e t o make our own snow!”
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Traditional songs about jingle bells on one-horse open sleighs may be fun to sing but most children have trouble relating to the idea of riding on snowpacked roads in a horse-drawn sleigh. Nowhere is that more true than in Mississippi. Pick up any children’s storybook, video or CD containing stories of winter and the images created are of snowmen, sleds, ice skates, icicles and sparkling white landscapes on a winter morning. Mississippi children rarely, if ever, see such things. The idea of teaching young children about winter using images and concepts outside their own experiences has bothered early childhood educator Kathy Chase Young for years. Young was born in Greenville and raised in Tupelo. Over 20 years ago she moved to Hattiesburg as a University of Southern Mississippi student. She met her husband and the couple has remained in Hattiesburg ever since, raising two children. Over the years Young has worked in a number of jobs in the early childhood education field. She has been a child care
director, a pre-school teacher, a teacher at USM and an early childhood education consultant. And, throughout most of those years she has written children’s stories, usually tucked away in a desk drawer when completed. Recently, and to the delight of children, parents and teachers, she has begun publishing some of these tales. Young’s second book, In a Mississippi Winter, first hit store shelves in mid-October and is already receiving acclaim across the state. South Mississippi Scene Magazine had an opportunity to visit with Young about this latest book. Here is some of what she had to say. Q. Where did the idea for this book come from? When I was in college at USM, I had a professor by the name of Lynell Rogers. She was on faculty in the child development department for many, many years. And, there was one class in which we were examining instruction and childhood development. She taught that it was important that we teach in a way that was relevant to a child’s body of knowledge. For example, the children in
Mississippi when they see things like sleds and mittens on a standardized test, many of those children don’t even know what they are because they have never been exposed to them. She talked about every time that we share winter with children, we typically do it in a way that … we talk about snow, sleds, skis and things like that. Many children don’t ever have those experiences. Winter here is not what you see in story books. That really stuck with me. In 20 years of teachers, as I have picked up children’s books, I have never found one that showed our experience. Q. When did you get the idea for the story and how did that come about? Probably it was about five or six years ago when my daughter was in first grade. The idea had just been floating around in my head. I was doing a story time at my daughter’s class. She found out that I had some stories that I had written and she asked me to bring them and share. I brought a couple of them in and the children were so receptive. That is when I decided to write “In a Mississippi Winter.”
STORY BY ROYCE ARMSTRONG PHOTOS COURTESY TISHOMINGO TREE PRESS
south mississippi scene • 81
Kathy Chase Young holds a master’s degree in Child Development from the University of Southern Mississippi and has been an early childhood professional in varioius capacities for two decades. Kathy has a deep appreciation of children’s literature. Her desire is to share her own stories with children of all ages. Her first book, The Gift, was published in 2005 (Tishomingo Tree Press). She is proud to call Mississippi her home, even in the winter.
Q. Can you tell us just a little about the story? The story is set in a classroom. You cannot tell the age of the children, but it is a younger classroom, like Kindergarten or preschool. It is told from a very precocious child’s point of view. As the teacher, Miss Bonnie begins talking about winter, complete with pictures of snowmen, ice skates and sleds, the children are all very confused. The teacher is exasperated in trying to figure out why, all of a sudden, that she has lost the attention of the children. The precocious child keeps saying, “Well, it looks like fun, but it doesn’t look like winter where I live.” Miss Bonnie realizes that she has made a mistake and she shifts gears and the next day she talks about a Mississippi winter. In a Mississippi winter we have to make our own snow and the class cuts out paper snowflakes. They use craft sticks to write their names in grits because some people have very powdery snow. She takes them through all of these different activities to help them think of ways that we can have fun without the same type of weather that other areas of the country have. She takes them on a winter time walk where they can see some of the Mississippi wildlife. The gist of the story is going through a classroom learning experience. The illustrations are just wonderful. Kelly Stanford did a beautiful job with all of the illustrations. Q. Who is this book written for? I didn’t have in mind writing it for anyone in particular. It reads best for children age’s five to nine. It has been read to children as young as four years and they are quite attentive, but it is a little bit long (32 pages) for younger children. Q. What has been the reaction to the story so far? I am really pleased. Of course, with me being an educator, I felt like that it could be a valuable tool for educators. But, I am hearing about teachers that are excited about it and they are buying it to give to their classrooms because they have often not had the story books that I missed as well. I am hearing lots of good reaction from parents and people from Mississippi. I was in Tupelo last week and people were telling me: ‘Oh isn’t that cute. Isn’t that the truth? We don’t have the same kind of win-
82 • south mississippi scene
ter that everybody else does.’ It seems to be getting a lot of attention. We have not had too much trouble selling it to the stores because as soon as they hear of the concept. It is being very well received across retail and education. There are activities throughout the book that children can do at home. There are also activities in the back. The book is more than a story. I really hope that children will really begin looking for the holly bushes, and looking at a winter sunset and which trees are bare and things like that. Q. Why was it important for you to tell this story? I love my state. I love being from here. I think that it is important for us to celebrate what makes us unique. I wrote it because I want children to feel the same way that I do. Q. What is your favorite part of the book? On the very last page, the precocious child has been picked up by its Mom, and Mom asks: “What did you do in school today?” The child replies, “Oh, nothing,” while drawing snowflakes on the window. As I wrote the story, I had a child in my head and I was hearing his voice, but when I sent the manuscript out to my friends and colleagues, some said that the little girl was so cute and others said that the little boy was so cute. I went to great lengths to hide the child’s identity so that the book is not gender specific. If your daughter or your son picks it up, either one of them can feel like they are the one telling the story. Q. Where can I find “In a Mississippi Winter”? It is all over Mississippi. It is in almost every independent book store in Mississippi as well as Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and quite a few small town gift shops and drug stores. There is also a listing of where it is available on the website, www.tishomingotree.com. Q. Congratulations with this story. What is your next book? We keep going around about that. I want to publish a story that I have written about a little girl that doesn’t want to turn five because she likes being four. It is called “Four Forever.” But, my husband is very interested in us doing the very first story that I wrote about a little boy with attention deficiency disorder. I don’t know. There are several possibilities.
Kelly Arcarese Stanford is a freelance illustrator originally from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who has been drawing as long as she can remember. Her illustrative career has included such work as murals, courtoom displays, and her favorite, children’s books. Her love of animals is evident in her art and her home. She and her family reside in Oak Grove with two cats, several dogs, a turtle and a pampered Arabian horse. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Southern Mississippi. This is her second published children’s book.
south mississippi scene • 83
T
Traditional songs about jingle bells on one-horse open sleighs may be fun to sing but most children have trouble relating to the idea of riding on snowpacked roads in a horse-drawn sleigh. Nowhere is that more true than in Mississippi. Pick up any children’s storybook, video or CD containing stories of winter and the images created are of snowmen, sleds, ice skates, icicles and sparkling white landscapes on a winter morning. Mississippi children rarely, if ever, see such things. The idea of teaching young children about winter using images and concepts outside their own experiences has bothered early childhood educator Kathy Chase Young for years. Young was born in Greenville and raised in Tupelo. Over 20 years ago she moved to Hattiesburg as a University of Southern Mississippi student. She met her husband and the couple has remained in Hattiesburg ever since, raising two children. Over the years Young has worked in a number of jobs in the early childhood education field. She has been a child care
director, a pre-school teacher, a teacher at USM and an early childhood education consultant. And, throughout most of those years she has written children’s stories, usually tucked away in a desk drawer when completed. Recently, and to the delight of children, parents and teachers, she has begun publishing some of these tales. Young’s second book, In a Mississippi Winter, first hit store shelves in mid-October and is already receiving acclaim across the state. South Mississippi Scene Magazine had an opportunity to visit with Young about this latest book. Here is some of what she had to say. Q. Where did the idea for this book come from? When I was in college at USM, I had a professor by the name of Lynell Rogers. She was on faculty in the child development department for many, many years. And, there was one class in which we were examining instruction and childhood development. She taught that it was important that we teach in a way that was relevant to a child’s body of knowledge. For example, the children in
Mississippi when they see things like sleds and mittens on a standardized test, many of those children don’t even know what they are because they have never been exposed to them. She talked about every time that we share winter with children, we typically do it in a way that … we talk about snow, sleds, skis and things like that. Many children don’t ever have those experiences. Winter here is not what you see in story books. That really stuck with me. In 20 years of teachers, as I have picked up children’s books, I have never found one that showed our experience. Q. When did you get the idea for the story and how did that come about? Probably it was about five or six years ago when my daughter was in first grade. The idea had just been floating around in my head. I was doing a story time at my daughter’s class. She found out that I had some stories that I had written and she asked me to bring them and share. I brought a couple of them in and the children were so receptive. That is when I decided to write “In a Mississippi Winter.”
STORY BY ROYCE ARMSTRONG PHOTOS COURTESY TISHOMINGO TREE PRESS
south mississippi scene • 81
Kathy Chase Young holds a master’s degree in Child Development from the University of Southern Mississippi and has been an early childhood professional in varioius capacities for two decades. Kathy has a deep appreciation of children’s literature. Her desire is to share her own stories with children of all ages. Her first book, The Gift, was published in 2005 (Tishomingo Tree Press). She is proud to call Mississippi her home, even in the winter.
Q. Can you tell us just a little about the story? The story is set in a classroom. You cannot tell the age of the children, but it is a younger classroom, like Kindergarten or preschool. It is told from a very precocious child’s point of view. As the teacher, Miss Bonnie begins talking about winter, complete with pictures of snowmen, ice skates and sleds, the children are all very confused. The teacher is exasperated in trying to figure out why, all of a sudden, that she has lost the attention of the children. The precocious child keeps saying, “Well, it looks like fun, but it doesn’t look like winter where I live.” Miss Bonnie realizes that she has made a mistake and she shifts gears and the next day she talks about a Mississippi winter. In a Mississippi winter we have to make our own snow and the class cuts out paper snowflakes. They use craft sticks to write their names in grits because some people have very powdery snow. She takes them through all of these different activities to help them think of ways that we can have fun without the same type of weather that other areas of the country have. She takes them on a winter time walk where they can see some of the Mississippi wildlife. The gist of the story is going through a classroom learning experience. The illustrations are just wonderful. Kelly Stanford did a beautiful job with all of the illustrations. Q. Who is this book written for? I didn’t have in mind writing it for anyone in particular. It reads best for children age’s five to nine. It has been read to children as young as four years and they are quite attentive, but it is a little bit long (32 pages) for younger children. Q. What has been the reaction to the story so far? I am really pleased. Of course, with me being an educator, I felt like that it could be a valuable tool for educators. But, I am hearing about teachers that are excited about it and they are buying it to give to their classrooms because they have often not had the story books that I missed as well. I am hearing lots of good reaction from parents and people from Mississippi. I was in Tupelo last week and people were telling me: ‘Oh isn’t that cute. Isn’t that the truth? We don’t have the same kind of win-
82 • south mississippi scene
ter that everybody else does.’ It seems to be getting a lot of attention. We have not had too much trouble selling it to the stores because as soon as they hear of the concept. It is being very well received across retail and education. There are activities throughout the book that children can do at home. There are also activities in the back. The book is more than a story. I really hope that children will really begin looking for the holly bushes, and looking at a winter sunset and which trees are bare and things like that. Q. Why was it important for you to tell this story? I love my state. I love being from here. I think that it is important for us to celebrate what makes us unique. I wrote it because I want children to feel the same way that I do. Q. What is your favorite part of the book? On the very last page, the precocious child has been picked up by its Mom, and Mom asks: “What did you do in school today?” The child replies, “Oh, nothing,” while drawing snowflakes on the window. As I wrote the story, I had a child in my head and I was hearing his voice, but when I sent the manuscript out to my friends and colleagues, some said that the little girl was so cute and others said that the little boy was so cute. I went to great lengths to hide the child’s identity so that the book is not gender specific. If your daughter or your son picks it up, either one of them can feel like they are the one telling the story. Q. Where can I find “In a Mississippi Winter”? It is all over Mississippi. It is in almost every independent book store in Mississippi as well as Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and quite a few small town gift shops and drug stores. There is also a listing of where it is available on the website, www.tishomingotree.com. Q. Congratulations with this story. What is your next book? We keep going around about that. I want to publish a story that I have written about a little girl that doesn’t want to turn five because she likes being four. It is called “Four Forever.” But, my husband is very interested in us doing the very first story that I wrote about a little boy with attention deficiency disorder. I don’t know. There are several possibilities.
Kelly Arcarese Stanford is a freelance illustrator originally from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who has been drawing as long as she can remember. Her illustrative career has included such work as murals, courtoom displays, and her favorite, children’s books. Her love of animals is evident in her art and her home. She and her family reside in Oak Grove with two cats, several dogs, a turtle and a pampered Arabian horse. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Southern Mississippi. This is her second published children’s book.
south mississippi scene • 83
