LORILYN SHARES HER THOUGHTS On Her New Book Release: Book Love: An Early Chapter Book

 

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“Never again would I be bored. If I had a book, I had a friend. I could read whenever I wanted, and I didn’t even need a wire to plug my book into the wall.”

Such is the magical journey into the world of reading a young girl discovers after failing first grade.

Readers' Favorite 

Five
Star Review

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

Book Love is a work of fiction for children by Lorilyn Roberts. Everyone learns at a different pace. Some children learn to read very early, while others have difficulty learning to read until they’ve been in school for a few years. 

It’s said that some of the greatest minds in history didn’t learn to read until they were older, like Einstein, who didn’t learn to read until he was 9. 

A little girl in second grade is embarrassed when she is called upon to read out loud in front of the class. When she is told she has to take Grade 1 over again, she’s even more embarrassed. 

Gradually she develops her own reading skills, but it’s a day stuck at home sick in bed that introduces the many positive possibilities found in books. One story leads to another, and soon this little girl can’t stop reading – she’s found a passion for books.

Lorilyn Roberts’s early chapter book, Book Love, is a touching story about a little girl who struggles with reading. At first, embarrassed by her inability to read, this little girl hates books and everything books have to offer. As the plot evolves, the girl learns to read and gradually develops an interest in books. 

The story is told in simple language so a young reader, especially one struggling with reading, can sound out the words and learn to read as they realize that perhaps their problems with reading are not unique to them alone. 

The line drawings are sweet and add another dimension to the story. Young readers will instantly feel a bond with this little girl as everyone has their own struggles, whether with reading or something else. 

Beautifully and compassionately told by a masterful writer. 

📘📘📘📘📘📘📘

Lorilyn sharing books with children in Kathmandu, Nepal

I remember when I homeschooled my daughters how hard I searched for books to get my daughters excited about reading. With the new school year just beginning and many children lagging behind following a year of Covid challenges, Book Love will be a hit with school-age kids who struggle with reading. 

It's hard to overestimate how important reading is as a lifelong skill. Children develop analytical thinking from reading. Based on what I heard a famous general once say, my motto for Book Love is: Young readers become world leaders.

The pre-order price is 99¢ until September 16. The publication date on Amazon is September 17.

Book Love will be available on all book platforms and in bookstores through Ingram. By making it available as a preorder on Amazon, I want to give parents, teachers, and librarians an advanced opportunity to incorporate it into their educational curriculum for this year. Grade level will depend on the child, but I would say first grade (with help) through third grade (independent reader) would be most appropriate.

I'm also available for personal appearances at schools and homeschooling events in the North-Central Florida area. Please contact me at  authorLorilynRoberts@gmail.com to make arrangements.  

A short blurb from another Readers' Favorite reviewer:

Book Love is beautiful inside and out. Roberts uses a child to teach children the love of books and it works beautifully. This book is a must for elementary classrooms and libraries. I highly recommend Book Love by Lorilyn Roberts if you have a child wanting to learn to read.

-Joy Hannabass 

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CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN, HOMESCHOOLING MOM: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

Leaves floating in the pool always signal the end of summer for me and the beginning of autumn. With fall comes my assignment of homeschooling Joy. While some days it’s a pleasure and other days a chore, I recently thought about curriculum in an unusual way. It reminded me of something funny years ago when I homeschooled Manisha.

In the fourth grade, she was given an assignment to set up a study schedule for the week—what subjects and how much time she should devote to each one. I chuckle as I remember her daily homeschooling curriculum: Reading, five minutes; English, five minutes; science, five minutes; history, three minutes; math, thirty seconds; lunch, one hour; and recess, the rest of the day. While that may have seemed like a great curriculum to Manisha at ten, I would hate to imagine where she would be today in her second year of college if I had allowed her to “go her own way.”

Last spring over Memorial Day weekend, Joy and I went to the Florida Homeschooling Convention in Orlando. It was a time of refreshment as I reflected on what we had accomplished over the past year and what I hoped to do for this next year. Upon arriving Joy and I quickly ate and hurried down to the exhibit hall, where I spent hours pouring over the books, curriculum, games, and “ideas” on display. Most of the venders return every year and there are always new ones to check out. This annual tradition encourages me to keep on keeping on for another year until God shows me it’s time to enroll Joy in traditional school. We just take homeschooling one year at a time.

Each year I assess Joy’s strengths and weaknesses and which curriculum (or non-curriculum) would work best for the following year. I have not used with Joy the same materials that I used for Manisha. Each of my daughters is unique, and as a homeschooling mom, it’s been a joy to tailor the curriculum to meet each of their specific needs. I have to admit, I have made mistakes. A couple of times I tried math programs which caused far too many tears. It required the unexpected expense and time of switching to something else. But I have never doubted God’s calling to homeschool, even as a single parent. I have been brought to my knees at times by the sheer burden and feeling of inadequacy. I could not do it without the Lord’s help.

But my heart’s desire to give my daughters the best that I can goes a long way in God’s provision. He makes up for what I lack. As I recall what Manisha wanted for a curriculum many years ago, in my finite wisdom, of course, I knew one minute of math a day would not prepare her for Algebra, and twenty-five minutes of English a week would not be sufficient to write a ten-page term paper on International Relations as a sophomore in college. We can chuckle at the absurdity, laughing because we know ourselves. Are we really any different?

In the broader context of life, reflecting on God’s great plan for each of us, do I know what His perfect curriculum is for me? Do I know what I need in His economy to become the person He created me to be? If God way back at the beginning of time had asked me to design my own curriculum, what would I have asked for? The human side of me would have said, “God, how about a little place on the beach with a pool, lots of books, and a Starbucks latte twice a day. I don’t want to cook, wash clothes, worry about car repairs, computers that crash, or anyone I love getting sick. In fact, give me a life where I never have to worry about anything.”

I know it’s not very “spiritual,” but if the truth be told, I don’t think anyone would ask for heartache. After all, we don’t have the mind of God. Our little thoughts are not like His. We long selfishly for a fulfilling life, to have our needs met, and to be accepted by others. The Bible is full of all the perils that accompany that mindset, beginning with Adam and Eve.

One of the courses in my life curriculum (which I never would have asked for) was working for twenty years as a court reporter. I never liked court reporting—the adversarial nature of it, the long, unpredictable hours, the fact that most of what I wrote was meaningless in God’s great scheme (who cares that someone found a cricket in a can of beans). Plus it was something I never wanted to do but circumstances willed it.

Sometimes life takes away our freedom to choose. Things happen. In those moments of doubting God’s best for us, we should cast our eyes on Jesus, who did the will of His Father and not His own. I “begrudged” those years until very recently, feeling like much of my working life was wasted. How many books could I have written during that time? I can’t say I was filled with discontent, but certainly upon occasion I have questioned, why didn’t God allow me to pursue writing at a much younger age? Why did “this” have to happen? You can fill in the blank with your own “this” and ask your own “why.” I have said to myself more than once, things would have been so much better if I had chosen “this” but couldn’t.

What better choices could there be than what my heavenly Father chose for me? Do I not trust Him completely? Does He not know the best curriculum to mold me into His image? Cannot my sorrows and loss be counted as gain for the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus tells us in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Jesus gave this command to His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. Little did His followers know what was about to happen. But Jesus knew if His words “abided” within their hearts, it would be sufficient to bring them through the dark days that lay ahead.

God has given us everything we need to equip us for His heavenly kingdom. Our curriculum has been chosen by the King of the universe. He molded each one of us from clay. He breathed life into us. He gifts us with talents and blesses us with hope and so much more than we deserve. He loved us so much He sent His only Son to die for us. No doubt His curriculum is vastly different from and better for my soul than anything I could possibly envision.

When I took my novel course in my Masters studies, I learned that one of the greatest novelists of all time, Charles Dickens, began his career as a court reporter. So I am in great company. Who knows how God will use those years down the road. After all, He is the great designer, craftsman, artist, and author.

God knows exactly what curriculum we all need to complete a doctorate in life and graduate Summa Cum Laude. And for each one of us, God lovingly designs the classes. I think a doctorate would fittingly describe the many difficult courses we must take to become everything He longs for us to be. And it will probably require—at least for me—more than thirty seconds of suffering, two minutes of patience, five minutes of sacrifice, and five minutes of prayer.

If we can cease our striving, our complaining, and slow down, God might just exempt us from a life class we would rather not take. “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” according to I Timothy 6:6; and that Starbucks latte, well, I do enjoy one upon occasion. Now, by God’s grace, I just need a teaspoon of patience and a tablespoon of love to enjoy another successful year of homeschooling.