writer: non-fiction women's & children's fantasy
In the Land of Sounds
A joyful journey into literacy — stories, coloring books, and reading adventures for young learners
"What a child hears lasts a lifetime."
Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. How sad, if believed. A child with a disability will often encounter hurtful words. Feelings of not being good enough, or smart enough are universal themes impacting children around the world. A Disney CEO, after reading the 'Snow Queen' thought the main character's power to turn everything into ice was a disability. And that is what the theme of 'Frozen' became. And it is this writer's belief NOT BEING ABLE TO READ PROFICIENTLY ABOVE A THIRD GRADE LEVEL IS A DISABILITY.
NAEP Report Card: In 2022 only 32% of public school 4th graders performed at grade level, 67% could not. In the USA, one child in four grows up unable to read with proficiency above a third grade level. Help your child with a head start in life by teaching them to read before they start school.
Educators in Iceland understand when a child learns letters have their own special reading sounds, a child learns to read. Focusing on the sounds that letters make rather than identifying the ABC's by their names, they teach beginning readers, not through ABC stories, but through action packed adventure stories. Action packed adventure stories in which children within the stories teach the reading sounds alphabet letters make. In Iceland these storybook children become as well-known as Marvel Super Heroes or Disney Princesses.
The adventures of Keiko and Sir Rubén Rainbow make up nineteen individual 15-minute stories. Each story has a beginning, middle and end. The stories tell the tale of a child (Keiko) who struggles in school. And like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she visits a fantasy land where she learns to read. Stories are written and illustrated to read aloud to children six years old and up. Children under six will enjoy the stories told to them at the child's level of understanding. Stories are to be read in succession, no peeking ahead, no taking away from the excitement of the pictures and stories that follow. Best kept out of a child's reach until taken from its hiding place to magically arrive at Story-Time.
For Children Four Years Old
An illustrated 'Picture book' in which children meet each alphabet letter family, and learn the reading sounds the letters make.
For Children Six Years Old
A 'Picture book' with a four-minute adventure story, in which fantasy characters teach the reading sounds of alphabet letters.
For Older Children Falling Behind in Reading
The Adventures of Taylor Keiko Mochizuki & Sir Rubén Rainbow in the Land of Sounds — twenty 15-minute adventure stories. Each story is a complete adventure unto itself, with a beginning, a middle and end. Each sequential story leads to an ending of a saga, revolving around the heartbreak of a child falling behind her friends in school. Keiko struggles, but falls, to learn to read. It is a 'Wizard of Oz' type story in which Keiko travels to the rainbow land and into the Land of Sounds. Sir Rubén Rainbow, a boy of many colors, is her teacher.
Two movie screenplays, adapted from the twenty consecutive 5,000 word stories, are in process.
Chapter 10 of the Storybook, The Invisible Babu Mischief, the Trickster of Rainbowland, was chosen as a finalist for the 2023 unpublished Pacific NW Writers Association.
"Carla Janes-Heneghan has spun a tale as delightful as it is unique. With stunning illustrations that bring the reader into this fantasy world; we ride along with Keiko in adventures with Babu Mischief, Bright Star, Captain Renaissance Red, Sir Turtle, The Wild Wild Wind, and many more. Meant to be read aloud, Taylor Keiko Mochizuki & Sir Rubén Rainbow in the Land of Sounds teaches struggling readers how to break through to fluency, and teaches other children empathy for them...plus it's a wild and dazzling ride."
— Shepherd Siegel, PhD, author of Disruptive Play