'A swirling world of books'

By Priscilla A. Greear - Florida Catholic

PINECREST | At the fifth Literary Affair luncheon at St. Louis Covenant School, 112 women traveled via magic carpet through a swirling world of books, from India and Havana to Baghdad and Wonderland, to celebrate the joy of reading and share that love with their children.

In character attire from Mad Hatter to Snow White, the school parents and friends beheld the pastiche of 14 tables decorated around a chosen book theme: the “Red Sari” table featured golden elephants and lotus flowers; the “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” showcased a gum drop/candy cane tower complete with a chocolate waterfall; “Flawless” sparkled with diamonds from a bank heist.

Guests mingled, inquired on plots and themes and added titles for summer reading lists. The bibliophile belles then journeyed into the delightful imagination and family inspiration of Miami author Laurie Friedman, who has authored over 100 critically acclaimed children’s books — many penned in quarantine.

Friedman described the eternal wellspring of story lines as coming from her childhood in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and her two children growing up in Miami. Daughter Becca flew in from Washington for the March 12, 2022 event.

Friedman praised the creative literary celebration at St. Louis. “This is the most beautiful luncheon. I never want to leave!” she said.

The event would seem to be very much needed: According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, the percentage of 9-year-olds who read for fun almost daily has dropped from 53 to 42% since 2012.

Friedman recounted her own rocky start to first grade and mid-year transfer to another school where she was transfixed by the beautiful library. She declared that she would read all the books, but the librarian encouraged her to focus on the ones that excited her — a challenge she still embraces amid the explosion of digital entertainment.

“I’ve dedicated one of the Mallory books to that librarian because I feel that was a really instrumental thing for me to hear in my own reading journey. You don’t have to read everything; read what appeals to you,” she said. “I want the kids to want to read my books and have fun reading them. And maybe this is a lofty goal, but I want it to be as much fun as playing a video game or watching a TV show or being on your phone.”

 

FIRST TRY: REJECTED

Friedman graduated Tulane with an English degree and writing aspirations but instead got a “real job” in advertising. Inspired by her mother’s creative career, she wrote a novel on the side, but it got rejected. Still, one agent told her to call if she ever wrote a children’s book. She tried round two when her son refused to sleep in his new bed until older sister Becca devised a reverse psychology plan: throwing all his stuffed animals on his bed and declaring there was no room for him.

“Once we did that he threw the animals out and he went to sleep. I thought to myself, wouldn’t that make a cute children’s book? At the time I really didn’t know anything about children’s books, but I wrote it and sold it,” she said, as “A Bed for Jed.”

Then came the family move — across town — where her daughter said, “You’ve ruined my life.”

“That was the sentence I used to kick off the Mallory series” of 28 books, Friedman said.

She conceived “Love, Ruby Valentine” when Becca came home from a Valentine’s Day party wishing every day could be Valentine’s. “I said, wouldn’t it be cool to write a book about a character who wanted to spread love every single day,” she said.

She proudly reported one reader has raised $300,000 for local charities and another has visited hospitals and nursing homes on Valentine’s. “There is nothing better that I feel that I’ve done as an author than helping others and inspiring young readers,” Friedman said.

To encourage reading, she and her daughter participated in a mother-daughter book club. She also read her son’s preferred style: humorous. To this day, “I’ve always tried to read what they read and make that connection and that’s a beautiful thing.”

 

LOVE OF READING

St. Louis media ministry member Victoria Coto left the literary luncheon with an action plan to start a mother-daughter book club.

“Hearing (Friedman) really inspired a love of learning and reading and engaging that love of reading and having them pick stories they connect to at home,” Coto said.

She sported glamorous ‘50s attire for her table’s “Next Year in Havana,” about a girl who learns her Cuban grandmother’s secret. The table featured photos of attendees’ grandparents from Havana, including an homage to one grandfather who died recently.

Juggling Havana and four other books, Coto is also reading “The War That Saved My Life” with her fourth grader, about a British girl in World War II.

“It’s awesome for me to see her enjoy learning about history,” Coto said. “It’s heavy — the bombing scene got her a little nervous, but it opens her eyes. As horrible as what is going on in Russia and Ukraine, it gives her a different perspective on what those people could be going through because of this character she is so invested in.”

Maricarmen Abreu said she enjoyed reading about an Italy native’s rise to political power in India through family tragedy in “Red Sari: A Dramatized Biography of Sonia Ghandi.”

“It was a very interesting read to see how she evolved. It shows the power of the human spirit,” Abreu said.

Teacher Grace Concepcion reads the “very cute, entertaining” Mallory series to her third graders at Gulliver Preparatory School. She said she loved hearing Mallory’s creation story and how Friedman’s career grew from third grade creative writing assignments.

 

HOW IT STARTED

St. Louis instructional specialist Christina Izquierdo founded the luncheon in 2016 and resurrected it this year from pandemic hiatus. The school also holds Chapters not Chocolates in February and other initiatives.

“One of the greatest challenges as educators and parents is to find a way to keep kids connected to literature ... Any way we can bring books to life is important,” Izquierdo said. “When they read more, kids become better writers, better speakers. Words are powerful. They have the capacity to heal, help us to be compassionate and break barriers, become more understanding of other people, situations and places in history, and really they can transport you.”

St. Louis Assistant Principal Annie Baixauli commended Izquierdo and all the mothers who decorated tables.

“Literacy starts at home,” she said. “It is the root of everything. The more we can encourage our students to read and our families to read at home to our students the more prepared they will be for the future.”

This article has been modified to clarify that the statistic on the percentage of 9-year-olds who read for fun was not cited by Laurie Friedman.