Miss L'eau Inspires Little Hands To Do Big Things by T. Katz

Today's guest blogger is T. Katz, author of Miss L'eau.

Two young boys in a coastal town discover a secret about their mysterious elementary school teacher, Miss L'eau. James and David had always known there was something unusual about her, but they could never quite put their finger on it. David discovered their first clue had been there all along, in her eyes.

The boys lived their whole lives near the ocean, but had never thought about how important it was or how vulnerable it might be. Through Miss L'eau, and her unexpected relationship to the sea, they develop a deeper love and understanding of the ocean and become involved with the nearby aquarium to organize an annual seaside clean-up.

Miss L'eau Inspires Little Hands To Do Big Things
by T. Katz, author of Miss L’eau

Having been born in Santa Cruz, CA only blocks from the beach, I always said that I had saltwater in my veins and have never liked being too far from the sea. Years ago, I moved to the high desert area of California and would run away to the shore whenever I could. As years passed, I noticed more and more trash on the beaches and knew how it was affecting the world at large. Water covers nearly 75% of earth's surface and is critical to the balance of the planet, so I wrote Miss L'eau to help kids understand that everyone can pitch in to take care of it, no matter how small their hands are.

Miss L'eau tells the tale of two kids in a coastal town who discover a secret about their elementary school teacher, which changes their lives forever. The boys had always known there was something unusual about Miss L'eau, but they could never quite put their finger on it. Even though David and James have always lived near the ocean, they never thought about its importance, power and certainly never its vulnerability. Thanks to their teacher and her unexpected relationship to the sea, the boys develop a love and understanding for the great body of water covering most of the earth's surface.

While it seems that most kids embrace the idea of taking care of the planet, it has been my experience that they also find the task of cleaning their own room overwhelming. In my children's chapter book, Miss L'eau I wanted kids to relate to the boys in the story and how they, too felt that organizing a community clean-up might be too much for them. James and David initially ask for help, but come to realize they are more capable than they originally thought they were.

It is my hope that Miss L'eau inspires kids to want to protect and preserve our oceans and research more about how to do just that. In the book, James tells his teacher his ideas for an annual seaside clean-up and begins to write out a plan to do so (work with a local aquarium, speak to city officials, etc.). The main goal of Miss L'eau is to motivate readers to start thinking about how they might follow the example of the kids in the story and after, they can visit the Miss L'eau webpage for step-by-step instructions on organizing their own clean-up in their community. Parents and educators can utilize an on-line study guide (located at www.tkatz.com) to further encourage conversation and help children research more about ocean conservation and preservation.

Miss L'eau is a fictional story with a factual heart and if one page makes a young reader want to investigate more about protecting and preserving the water surrounding us, then I think a good deed was done.

T. Katz is the author of the children’s chapter book, Miss L’eau. You can visit her website at www.TKatz.com or her blog at www.TKatz.typepad.com.