By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — When it comes to writing a children’s book, who better is there than someone who teaches youths on a daily basis?
That was the thought process for Virginia Butler Gray when she decided to pen her first children’s book on how teaching youngsters in different ways can help them respond positively to a particular emotion or situation.
“Teaching, I noticed, that so many kids are swayed by what their friends or other classmates say,” Gray said. “I tried finding books on the subject and there really wasn’t anything out there for making choices for themselves.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
LOCAL AUTHOR — Houlton native Virginia Butler Gray shows off her book “My Magic Glasses” during a recent stop in Aroostook County. Now a resident of Hermon, Gray grew up in the Shiretown.
Born and raised in Houlton, Gray never left the Shiretown until it was time to go off to college. She attended the University of Maine at Presque Isle for one year before transferring to Bryant and Stratton College in New York to study retail.
Upon getting married, Gray returned to UMPI where she obtained a degree in education. She later obtained her master’s degree in education from the University of Maine. For the past 23 years, she has lived in Hermon and taught elementary classes (kindergarten to third grade) at the Etna-Dixmont School.
“I really wanted a book that had a good rhyming element to it,” she said. “If you don’t have that rhyming scheme it doesn’t pull kids in. I also wanted something with repetition, similar to a Dr. Seuss book.”
The concept for “My Magic Glasses” came to her while she was driving to school one day.
“I thought if we could put on ‘magic’ glasses then we could see things from a different perspective,” she explained. “When I sat down to start writing, it just flowed.”
As Gray writes in her book, a child realizes that “my glasses are magic; I use them to see, when things don’t feel right, the way I want to be.”
What if your child could take full responsibility for how they feel?
Drawing extensively from her own observations in the classroom, the topics covered in the 20-page book include teaching children to:
• Notice how they feel.
• Stop blaming others for how they feel.
• Make deliberate choices for themselves.
• Be confident.
• Let go of anger.
• Listen to their heart.
“My Magic Glasses” supports the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports that are in the Common Core state standards. It shows children how to take control of the situations they find themselves in on a daily basis.
“If a child was too shy, they could put on their magic glasses,” she explained. “It would let the student step back and make the choice they would like to make.”
“My Magic Glasses” was officially released on Nov. 16, 2012, but Gray was not able to fully promote the book because of her teaching duties. That changed this past June when she retired from the classroom. She now plans to spend time canvassing the state, bringing her book into schools and reading it to children.
“My Magic Glasses” is available at the Briar Patch in Bangor and online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Balboa Press. Signed copies will also be available at Yorks Bookstore in Houlton. For more information, e-mail Gray at virginiabgray@yahoo.com.
