He’s written 25 children’s books, 10 of which have been published.
But, perhaps, it was a couple of life’s more important lessons author Michael Finklea (www.michaelfinklea.net) hopes the audience of fresh-faced youngsters he spoke to Wednesday will carry through life.
The lessons of perseverance and finishing what you start.
They’re lessons the Oklahoma native continues to appreciate as he’s made his way across the country to more than 2,500 schools sharing his personal story as well as his love of reading and writing with school children.
Wednesday’s talk was at Dean Road Elementary.
“I experienced a lot of struggles in school and actually didn’t like to write at one point,” recalled Finklea, 45, as he signed copies of his books for the students. Finklea also suffered with ADD (attention deficit disorder) growing up. “Now that I’m writing and have been published, I want these kids to remember that they shouldn’t say they don’t like something until they’ve actually tried it.”
Finklea knows a thing or two about trying and sticking with things having submitted the manuscript for his first book “The Worldwide Adventures of Winston & Churchill,” nine times before successfully getting it published when he was 36.
Finklea’s children’s books deal with a number of topics from jokes, riddles and scary adventures to poems that focus on developing good character traits.
While his books talk about lessons like punctuality, listening and honesty, Finklea hopes as children read his books they also develop a love of reading and writing.
“If children are introduced to the value of good reading and writing skills early on, hopefully they’ll take to it and run with a skill that will always help them out the rest of their lives,” said Finklea.
Eight of Finklea’s children’s books will be available in the Dean Road Elementary School Library for check-out by students.
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