Today on Books 4 Karachi Kids we have Tina Mowrey! Tina is the author of WHAT A PRICKLY PEAR and has two other books coming out soon. MY FAMILY TREE HAS ROOTS (which by title alone I’m SOLD!) set to come out in 2022 and BEING BAILEY RAE in August of this year!
Hi Tina and thank you for chatting with me today! I’m excited to learn what your first memory was a child where you connected to a book.
THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS by Katherine Paterson is one book that sticks in my memory because Gilly was such a colorful character. I hadn’t encountered a character like her in my previous reading material, so it was refreshing. I also remember being introduced to the world of foster care and it impacted me so much that I decided I wanted to foster and/or foster to adopt children as an adult.
That’s an amazing impact, Tina! I think this again shows us how influential books are. For you, it introduced you to something that would later become part of your life in a truly loving way. How wonderful that you were inspired by this book to grow your family and provide a home to children that needed one.
In what ways do you hope your writing will impact the lives of children?
As far as the impact my writing has on children, I can only hope that they will see themselves in the story or learn to be empathetic toward the characters and their situations. Also, if I write something humorous, I hope they find it funny!
You’ve stated an important point that I want to discuss. Empathy. When children read, they aren’t always going to be in the same situation as the main character. They may not even understand the details surrounding the character’s problem. But through the writing and illustrations, they can begin to see, to understand, to empathize. This is a very important aspect and learning opportunity that children’s books provide. And on the other side, it may be exactly their situation! They may SEE themselves in this storyline, in this book, and finally have found a place where someone understands. I cannot stress how important this is for children. All children need to be represented in books because of the positive impact it will have on them. I’m so glad you stated this, Tina, because it’s definitely needed. And not to overshadow humor, because we ALL could use more laughter these days!
Thank you again, Tina, for being so giving of your time and thoughts. We as a community appreciate it!
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