Author works to get kids excited by real life

There is a reason the names of Aaron Reynolds's children's books often have a distinct connection.

His tales of Tiger Moth, a puzzle-solving fourth-grade Ninja in training, often have a creepy-crawly theme, such as “Tiger Moth and the Dung Beetle Bandits.”

In a different, unconnected series, “Buffalo Wings” and “Chicks and Salsa” reveal a delicious obsession Reynolds has had for years. It's a sign of Reynolds' motivations when he writes.

“I am a writer because I get inspired by things I love in real life,” Reynolds said before a presentation last month to kindergarten and first-grade students at Western Trails Elementary School in Carol Stream. “Food, superheros, bugs, mysteries. So I have the joy of getting to write about those things.”

Reynolds, 40, who has written more than 15 children's books and hails from Fox River Grove, was the star attraction of the school's Literacy Night, an evening that gave the school's youngest students and their parents a chance to read together and play reading-oriented games.

The night served as a chance to inspire students while also helping parents learn their reading must be followed up on at home. As an added bonus for students, Reynolds gave them a close look at the name they had only read during an early semester program to build awareness of the author.

“Kids tend to view these authors as these unknown people,” said Eileen Telles, a reading specialist with Carol Stream District 93.

Telles had wanted to bring an author to the school for years.

“They don't realize that they are really human beings that write these books. But it is just giving a face to the book to let them know that real people do this. This is a job they could do.”

School officials say the annual event reinforces the lessons they try to pass on to parents on a regular basis. The lesson that anything students learn in the classroom must be taken home.

“We want to partner with the families and help parents work with their kids,” said Assistant Principal Jonathan Zimmermann. “One of the things we talk about tonight is that the kids who read the most and become the best readers are the ones who get excited about reading.”

But the main entertainment was Reynolds, who read his “Chicks and Salsa” book to students and parents and, after completing it, told the audience that the book made him hungry. The cure for that hunger? He and a few student helpers whipped up some salsa, which they all sampled it at the end of the presentation.

And throughout the night, he stayed on message.

“You don't have to be a writer to be inspired,” he said. “Books do that to you no matter what.”