Guest Post - Donna L. Peterson - The Mis-Adventures of Phillip Isaac Penn

DONNA L. PETERSON

THE MIS-ADVENTURES OF PHILLIP ISAAC PENN

Growing up really can be hard at time. I should know, I am a tween who is right in the thick of it. One of the best things about The Mis-Adventures of Phillip Isaac Penn is that PIP deals with the same sorts of things as real kids to every day. Sure, they may be presented in a comical way in the book, but they are based on reality. Donna L. Peterson wrote a great guest post about why she wrote this book and how it can help kids cope.

I'm Donna L. Peterson, the creator/author of The Misadventures of Phillip Isaac Penn. I live in a rural community of Idaho in the southeastern area, where I've spent 12 years working for the school district. Over those years I've come across all of the many stereo-typical personalities such as: bullies, cheaters, liars, stealers, know-it-alls, con men, and tattle tales. All of them seem to be at every school, and many of the children have difficulty dealing with these special personalities. I've even witnessed some of those children outsmart the grown-ups and another child has been blamed. Of course, the other child in my book is Pip, who isn't totally innocent himself. I wanted to help children cope with the unfairness that comes along with being a child. And, I was also hoping that grown-ups, like myself, would maybe see a bit of the unfairness that they can also be part of. A few people have told me that the teachers, parents and other grown-ups seem a bit cruel at times. But they need to remember that this is all in the point of view of a young boy who feels as if the world is picking on him. I think many children often feel that way at some time in their growing years. Even I did.

Some people have inquired about the unique names that are included in my stories. Well, most of that is my love of alliteration. I didn't want to over do it though, so I stayed away from the names starting with the same letters as the days of the week--That might have been cheesy! Anyway, it was Pip who came up with the labeling names that went in front of their character names, he seems to have a fondness for alliteration too. Ha! You might have also noticed that most of my character's names are not common ones. That is mainly because I didn't want any of the children I've worked with to think the character was named after them. Therefore I chose names like: Bart, Nell, Tess, Stefan etc... Lizzy, Chaz and Cody were more common, but I still didn't know any children at our school with those names. However, my teenage son has a good friend name Cody, who always has a way of flattering adults with compliments, He is a nice young man, but a bit of a smooth talking salesman. When I told him that one of my characters was called Con man Cody, he was quite pleased.

Writing for children is the most fun I've ever had. There has not been even one child who has heard my stories that has ever been offended. In fact, I always hold a discussion with the children after I read to them, and every one of them has told me that they can relate to Pip (even the girls), and they know just how he feels. I think this book will help a lot of children to feel less alone with their daily problems of just being "a kid".

You can learn more about Donna and PIP at these links.

Thank you to Cedar Fort Publishing for setting up this tour.