Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Children's

book by PTC author discusses power of words

BOYLAN

[email protected]

While helping

his mother clean out the attic, Casey finds a giant green shirt with his

name on it.

The shirt,

it turns out, belonged to his grandfather, who was in the army. It is

now Casey's shirt but it is missing a patch across from his name. Casey

tries to decide what the patch he will put there will say.

"Casey

and The Amazing, Giant, Green Shirt," written by Peachtree City resident

Margaret Ross, is a story that deals with the power of words and the effect

that labels can have on a child. Casey chooses words like smart, fast,

loved, brave and patriotic to wear on his shirt and weighs how each word

makes him feel. In the end, Casey cannot simply choose one word, so all

of the words end up on his shirt.

Ross is the

founder of the Kamaron Institute for Rapid Business Results Inc., whose

mission is to positively impact the way the world thinks. Ross has worked

for Delta Airlines as general manager for relationship marketing and was

the founder of Delta's family travel magazine. She also worked for Cox

Communications as director of e-commerce and marketing. Those positions

certainly helped her latest venture. The book was written after the events

of Sept. 11 and was available as an e-book to military families and schools

starting the week of Veteran's Day.

"Watching

the news coverage after Sept. 11, I knew that I wanted to write a story

about labels," said Ross. "I wanted to use words like 'brave'

and 'patriotic' and the story came out." Ross sees her story as a

bedtime story for America. A good bedtime story should leave the child

with a smile on his or her face and a secure feeling. "Casey and

the Amazing, Giant, Green Shirt" seems to be leaving its readers

with that feeling.

The book is

already very popular with the local schools. Spring Hill Elementary School

had a book fair at Barnes and Noble recently and Ross was the guest. The

students got to choose the labels they would like to wear. Braelinn Elementary

School became a Casey-free zone, meaning that only positive labels are

allowed.

Many schools

have problems with bullying, and the origin of bullying is name calling,

said Ross. The schools are using the book as a tool not only for the younger

children but for the older students as well. Twelve-year-olds are going

to elementary school classes and reading the book to the students.

This was Ross's

first book, but it won't be her last. Casey will now be involved in seven

other books. The next in the series will be "Casey and the See Through

Head" and will deal with the way people are judged. People will be

able to see Casey's thoughts and will judge him on them instead of his

actions.

"Casey

and the Amazing Giant, Green Shirt" is available at Omega Book Center

in Peachtree City, Olive Branch Christian Book Stores in Peachtree City

and Fayetteville and Scott's Book Store in Newnan. It is also available

on the Web at www.kamaron.org . Military families and schools can

download the story for free. A dollar from each book will benefit the

American Red Cross. If your school is interested in becoming a Casey-free

zone, visit the Web site.

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