Announcing the Little Elephant’s Big Adventures Series

I’ve hinted a few times that I have a big project in the works. Today I finally get to share it with you.

Since last fall I’ve been writing the Little Elephants’ Big Adventures series. The books are about the adventures of brother and sister elephants, Benjamin and Lucy. They’re humorous and fun. They’re also designed to teach math to preschoolers.

The series is the brain-child of a team of early childhood researchers out of Purdue University. They did research on math language in picture books. Preschool children who were read books that used math language improved their math skills. And not just on the skills taught in the books.

That’s astounding. Imagine being able to give kids a leg-up in school just by reading them a book. It’s already something preschool teachers and many parents do. No expensive equipment or fancy degrees required.

Just one problem. There weren’t many books for teaching the concepts. So they got grant funding to create books for preschoolers based on their research findings.

That’s where I come in.

I was asked early on if I would be interested in the project. Boy was I! My degree in Cognitive Psychology and my experience creating curriculum and writing children’s books made me a perfect fit for the project.  I was thrilled. It’s a great combo of my professional training with things I’m passionate about: education and children’s literature.

The first three books have been written and are in the process of being illustrated. Every week I get a new peek at my words coming to life in pictures. As a writer that’s just about the most exciting thing imaginable.

The process was a whirlwind. Anyone who has written children’s books knows that the process is excruciatingly slow. Years to write manuscripts. Years to submit.  Then, if you’re lucky, you find a publisher and get to wait a couple of more years for production.

Not this project. Starting early last fall I developed character and story concepts with the Purdue team. Then I wrote and delivered three books. Each went through multiple rounds of revision with the Purdue team. We made sure the stories correctly conveyed the math concepts without sacrificing good storytelling. The illustrations for the first book are almost done. The books are being translated to Spanish as we speak. And all of this has happened in less that 6 months.

The full series will be available sometimes in the next couple of years. I couldn’t be more excited or more proud.