Published Author

During her first year in elementary school K-bao made significant progress with her writing, to the point where she officially "published" several short works. Near the end of the school year, the K-folks spent a morning at K-bao's school learning a bit more about her journey as an author. She has come a long way from the when she self-published her first book in late 2014.

The works pictured above include a narrative of her first soccer game, a spooky story about an evil witch, a poetry anthology, and most recently a non-fiction work about her favorite animal, the horse (in a 3-way tie for first place, along with ponies and unicorns).

For the book about horses, K-bao had to spend some time researching her subject. In the process, she learned about the physiology of the horse (205 bones!) as well as distinctions among breeds. (By the way, the reader with a long memory might recall this early post in 2009, when K-bao was first exposed to horses. Clearly her interest has grown quite a bit since then.)

Naturally, the fact that K-bao loves to read has been quite helpful in her overall progression. Over the past year she has devoured countless short chapter books about detectives, rainbows and fairies, ponies and other related topics. It is also certainly true that K-bao's school and first grade teacher have actively fostered in K-bao's class a sense of authorship and a pride in writing.

Note

An enigmatic note that somehow shows up in K-Pop's pocket. Edifying message.

No prizes for guessing who the "mysterious author" is.

Young Author

K-bao has advanced significantly as both a reader and writer recently, and indeed has started penning her own little booklets.

Last weekend she decided to write - and illustrate - her first book, admittedly constructed by putting eight or nine staples to two sheets of paper. Subjects ranged from astute observations ("My family is nice") to statements about her own feelings ("I was mad because I got sick") to pronouncements of universal truths ("Love is kind").

In her second book, written shortly thereafter, she invited K-Pop to co-author (but not to co-illustrate - clearly she has formed her own quite accurate opinions already on K-Pop's artistic capabilities).