After stepping away from education, Lena Bee felt the need to continue making contributions to the lives of young readers. "I have really taken a lot of time to think about how I can be back in the classroom without being back in the classroom," says author Lena Bee. "I decided to start writing children's books."
For Lena, writing books is more than just creating a fun story with attractive pictures. It's about teaching pertinent lessons and offering a tool for educators. "As a teacher, I would spend a lot of time reading, and when doing lessons plans, I would always make sure that there were books that coincided," says Lena. "My goal is to help bring theory to practice in the classroom, so if I can write a book that will help a teacher do that in their lesson plan, then I've reached one of my goals."
Lena's books also don't shy away from difficult subjects. In her latest book Blue Berry Blue Jay, the author addresses loss in a way that's geared toward younger children. "I lost a son. He was two years old," says Lena who wanted to help her other children with the bereavement process. "Most of the books that I found were for older students, but there were none for really young children... I wanted to be able to talk about difficult things like this."
For more information about Lena Bee's work and to find her books, visit BooksBytheBee.com
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
