One easy trick to transform summer for kids and grandkids.

Photo by Billie Judy

Summer vacation as a brain drain

Before 1900, there was no such thing as summer vacation. Generally, kids went to school year round, with farm kids getting spring and fall off to work the fields. And long before air conditioning, city schools, surrounded by pavement and interrupted air flow, became too hot to handle. 

Today, summer vacation is a billion dollar industry. Think about it! Toys, games, vacations, child-care. But the costs are higher than just dollars. The old notion that kids needed time off to rest up, doesn't really hold. Many kids, especially kids from families with less cash, experience an actual brain drain over the summer holiday, returning in the fall even further behind. 

Build a child's mind with video games

NOT!. There's no evidence that video games do more than entertain kids. Which isn't a bad thing. It's maybe a little silly to expect a game to dramatically improve a child's mind. Does basketball? Hopscotch? Mumbly peg?

What children do remember—see if this is true for you—is the time parents spent with them. Maybe it was a trip, maybe just a hobby. Time they got your full, positive attention. 

What's interesting is that the memorable thing doesn't have to be a big thing. It can be a small shared moment. Like sitting down to read a book together.

Children's ability to learn from hearing outpaces their reading capacity up until about grade 8. But here's the thing: you can't just hand a child a book and walk away. For the most part, if you don't read, they won't. One in four adults doesn't read a book a year.

So reading is an easy, inexpensive way to share and enjoy one-on-one time with a child you may have difficulty connecting with otherwise.

26 advantages to reading

Hit this link for a fascinating look at the difference books can make in your kids.

What to read? My middle-grade Alaska adventure, "Cheechako," is recommended adventure reading on the www.boysread.org (girls, too). The second book in that series is an unforgettable summer tale of Alaska adventure, and even a tiny bit of romance. 

If you, or your child, haven't read Gary Paulsen's "Hatchet," you're in for a treat. It's the first (and best) of three. Richard Peck and Ursula LeGuin are always good. The series of seven 'Narnia' books by C.S.Lewis, satisfies your need to keep going. 

And then, of course, there's Harry Potter. Amazing, fantastic books for adults and children. 

And remember, all these books can be had used. I get most of my copies from Goodwill or St. Vinnie's for dimes on the dollar.

Start planning, and collecting, now!

You can read the first thirty pages of any of these books FREE on Amazon. Here's my link and others are easy to find, too. 

Books by Jonathan Thomas Stratman

Reading to kids can change lives—yours and theirs. And I'd love to hear how it goes. 

Who wants to read a book without a gadget?

Don't get me wrong.

I love computers. I love getting the occasional email from a real person, love hearing that some African person wants to send me millions, and am even fond of FaceBook. With FB particularly, I like that friends and family, people I admire and am however connected to, choose and present bits of news, art or info they think I might like. And I often do. 

So that out of the way, I'm not a complete 

Luddite. 

But as a writer—computers and gadgets in stories—not so much. 

Living by wits!

I'm on page 156 of my newest book. I think it's called "The Taking of GrayGhost Island." It is my 8th novel (four published, three on the way) and takes place on Puget Sound just after WWI and somewhat before computers.

I enjoy ... not always exactly true ... writing these books, and certainly enjoy when people write, call or step up to tell me how much they've enjoyed them. I love the reviews! Thanks to all of you who have or will submit one.

It's a lonely process but I'm okay with that. I sit in my chair, research, imagine and type. I learn things. Like, the United States was one of the last countries to adopt commercial toilet paper, and that around 1900. And one big problem with early toilet paper was splinters. I won't tell you why I needed to know that, you'll have to read the book. 

But back to topic, there are no computers, or GPS units, cellphones, or any other of today's gadgets in any of my tales told of yesterday's adventures. 

Here's the problem.

Is it a problem? You decide. If your child or grandchild asks you a question, how do you answer? Most of us grab some form of computer and look it up. Driving across town? Do we take out a map and master it? No, the computer tells us. In my stories, adults and children have to figure it out, and gut it out. They have to practice to perfect skills, take chances, fail or nearly fail ... sometimes lose ... sometimes struggle to survive.

It may read like fiction, but it never reads like virtual.

(You can read 30 pages of any of my books free!)
Find them here:
http://thebookspot.org/jonathanstratmanbooks

Help an author ... post a book review!

How to be a successful Indie author

People who claim to know this, say the average "indie" author sells about 100 books, total. Agggg!

Happily, I trudged past that number a long time ago, especially with this book, the first in my Cheechako series of three. 

There are two other numbers that are very important to writers like me ... and this is where I need your help. I need a rating of stars (1 to 5), and as little as one line telling what you liked about the book. 

Help! Author needs reviews. 

My books aren't found in many bookstores. Why? Because very few people in the world have any idea I exist. Most of my books are sold through Amazon and through library distributors. For much of the book buying, reviewing world, a book doesn't become official until it has about 25 reviews.

This is where you come in. 

Please consider posting an Amazon book review. 

If you've read one of my books, and especially if you liked it, or if you've read it to the kids or grandkids (this is a great read-aloud book). Or if you're a teacher and have read it in your classroom. Then please consider contributing a review. 

You can do a review in :60 seconds. Really!

To do an Amazon review, you just decide how many stars it deserves, and write as little as one line about what you liked, or what your kids liked. It's that simple and that quick. 

It will be a big help to me ... and, you'll like it!

This New Review Shines!

Father Hardy shines!

Bylelliott541on December 27, 2015

At once a period piece capturing the 'gee-whizz' feel of the post-WWII 50's and the deep paranoia of the Cold War, a frontier adventure in a harsh and wild land, and an almost hard-boiled style mystery, "Indecent Exposure" is a fantastic novel that heralds the beginning of a series that can't be written fast enough for my taste.

The protagonist is a complex man; an Episcopal Priest both practical and tough, who mixes a weary faith with compassion and insight into human nature to influence the hard-scrabble lives in his frontier village, deep in the wilds of Alaska. The relationships he builds throughout ring true and are laced with humor and affection, even as they are tinged with suspicion in relation to the cold-blooded murder of a widely-loathed man, Frankie Slick.

As the mystery unfolds, Stratman deftly balances an ethereal haunting steeped in the grieving heart of a lonely man, with the brutal reality of life on the edge of starvation and poverty lived at minus thirty degrees. With snipers, spies, the dark underbelly of human nature, and the redemption that an earned faith can bring to even the darkest corners of life, "Indecent Exposure" is a page-turning delight. The prose feels effortless as the pages evaporate in record time. The noir-ish mystery is both tantalizing and realistically satisfying, yet still manages to explore grief, betrayal, and the enduring values of compassion and faith.

Weaving these facets into a compelling novel is no mean feat, but to do so in a lean 236 pages is a tour de force in narrative pacing and literary style. Fans of episodic mystery series everywhere have a strong entry into the genre, and a memorable protagonist to root for. Can't wait for the next installment!

I Learned a lot about writing ... in an igloo!

It all started at the Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo #17

Friday night was movie night, in Nenana, Alaska, when I was a boy, mid 1950s. (This is a shot from Alaska Digital Archives, ca 1920. Notice the POA Hall, first building on the left.) 

Nenana of those days was a dusty railroad and riverboat town with a disproportionate number of churches and saloons, two stores—Coghill's (still there) and the NCCo, a post office, lodge and the Coffee Cup Cafe.  

Right ... no theater! So we watched movies at the Pioneers of Alaska Hall. The Pioneers were an early Alaska social club, started in Nome, that still exists in some Alaska towns today. Appropriate to Alaska, the meeting halls were called "igloos." 

Story structure in "B" movies

I think I learned everything I know about story structure at the Pioneers of Alaska. 

The staple in those days was Hollywood grade "B" movies, usually westerns. I no longer know why, but my favorites starred Anthony Quinn. Of course we saw John Wayne and the whole bunch, but somehow Quinn and I bonded. Not so I could tell you the name of a single movie, however.

But at the end I'd go home and recount the whole thing. Absolutely the whole thing in detail, with all its characterizations, plot twists and plot arcs—plus acting out the climactic moments—for my long-suffering parents.

It's a wonder they'd let me go at all. 

Now I'm writing my 8th book!

What it is ... is rhythm, and it's stayed with me. For a long time I didn't know how I knew what I knew, just that I did. And I know that, even after all these years, it still works for me. The other thing that has stayed with me is Nenana. 

Those of you that have read my Cheechako series, or the first book in my Father Hardy series, can spot bits of that old Nenana peeking out around the corners. 

Here's the scene as it plays from "Indecent Exposure," featuring Orie Williams, the only real character I've ever written into one of these. (With his permission.)

"But on a Friday night, a bright-eyed, bespectacled boy named Orie, gets there early enough to light a fire in the big barrel stove up front, to pop the popcorn, and get the first movie reel threaded into an antique projector. He’s the only one who can keep it running. I’ve heard rumors of a pact with the devil.

Much of the town files in, kids to the hard benches near the screen where their front sides get roasted by proximity to the barrel stove at the same time as their backsides are still freezing. Adults sit on the hard chairs behind. The room starts out so cold that most of us leave our parkas on until about halfway through the movie when we all simultaneously realize we’re sweltering and can’t possibly wait for the reel change."

In a world where every single other thing has changed, that old Nenana remains a place I can find my way back to. 

An insider tip on writing your novel.

Writing by the numbers

I recently finished my seventh novel and am currently revising that book while writing chapter 4 in my eighth. I'm thrilled about the new book. It's an adult adventure series I've been "walking around with" for a couple of years and am now excited to be actually working on it. I think the title and possibly the series title is "GreyGhost Island." 

But back on topic. People often ask, "how can you write a novel? It's a reasonable question and one I used to ask. The answer is: "One page at a time." 

Well Duh! But wait ... there's more. 

Can you write a page?

Can you? Can you sit down in the chair and squeeze out a page of typing? If you can, you're on your way to that first novel. If you can accomplish one page a day for 365 days, in a year you'll have a first draft of your whole novel. If you write two pages a day you can be finished in 6 months!

What if it's not very good.

Tell your story. Most first drafts aren't wonderful. At least not as wonderful as they will be after you polish on them. "What if you don't feel inspired?" No worries. Writing a novel is like any job with good days and bad days. After you've written awhile, the difference between a good day and bad day doesn't appear on the page. It's just how you feel. 

What if I'm old? Should I still write.

Maybe you should write faster? I don't know. I think you should write anyway. I'm old. I write as fast as I can but mostly because I'm excited to get the story out on the page and find out what happens next. However you write, if you've always wanted to try a novel, you should. As my annoying brother Joel often says: Do it! Do it now!

Remember, it's just one page at at time. You can do that. 

You can read thirty pages of any of my four published novels for free, at Amazon Kindle Books. Click this link: Jonathan Stratman's Books!

If you're on Facebook, please find and like my Jonathan Thomas Stratman, author page. It all helps.

Want to change a child's life? Read aloud together!

It's this simple. 

There are only benefits when you read aloud to a pre-schooler.

This is more than quality snuggling time together and the foundation for a lifetime bond you might miss otherwise. 

Early reading aloud can allow a child to arrive in kindergarten with a 30% larger vocabulary than those who've had no reading. 

The child with a larger vocabulary is ready to receive and understand more information from the kindergarten environment and get more from teacher instruction. Children with pre-reading experience OWN the head of the class. 

And keep reading!

Even after kindergarten, reading aloud continues to accrue benefits. A child receives and processes information at a higher level than most are able to read, up as far as about 8th grade. 

My youth novel, Cheechako, written for grade five up—middlegraders—is a read aloud in classrooms as low as grade 3. 

As a child, my mother read to my brothers and me as we did the dishes, to keep us from killing each other, and I heard, and was swept away by, the C.S. Lewis Narnia series long before I might have been ready to read to myself.  

As an added benefit, books like Cheechako and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and countless others, will be enjoyable and entertaining for you, too. 

Where to find children. 

If you don't have children at home or grandchildren handy, you can still change lives. Call the school or library near you and volunteer to read. You can also do a quick online search, like "volunteer to read to children," in your area, for more ideas. 

Seeking adventure? 

It's as near as my Alaska adventure three-book series, available as e-books or paperbacks through Amazon. Click this easy link to read up to 30 pages of each book for free. Remember, you can also read Kindle e-books on any regular computer. 

http://thebookspot.org/jonathanstratmanbooks

On Facebook? Please check out and like my Jonathan Thomas Stratman, Author page, and don't hesitate to write with questions and comments.