JIMMY RECOMMENDS
Historically, mothers may have been in charge of this nighttime ritual. But a local man has launched a campaign -- and written several books -- to promote fathers reading to their children.
David Landes of Shawnee has penned four children's books and is working on four more as part of his "Read to Me, Daddy" program. He has discovered the joy of reading to his children, and his outdoor-themed books have allowed him to relive the adventures of his own childhood.
"My father didn't always read us a lot of books, but he was always good for a story," Landes said. "When my son turned 5, I started telling the same story to him. One evening I put it on paper, and it just went from there."
The story that captivated Landes as a youth is about three little fish who build houses to protect themselves from the big bass that wants to eat them. That story became Landes' first book, "The Three Little Fish." More stories soon popped into his head and resulted in "So...You Want to Be a Deer Hunter," "Camping Anyone?" and "Me and My Boat." Although the titles may sound instructional, the books are tales of his youth injected with lessons for youngsters. Reading level is pre-kindergarten through third grade.
"They're 'remember when' stories for me," Landes said. "Everything I do has a lot of sentimental value, of places I've been and where I grew up. But it helps to be able to think on the level of a 5-year-old, which I've been accused of."
The writing process has its own rewards, Landes said, but his goal is for the books to encourage fathers to spend reading time with their children. Whether it's with his books or with stories of their own, fathers become part of an irreplaceable time when they read to their children, he said.
"Children are only that age for a short time. They don't understand why Dad is so tired at night," he said. "That ballgame will be there when I get back from reading. Moms do it all the time; Dads miss out on it."
Many fathers are outdoorsmen and sports fanatics, Landes said. Participating in those things, or watching them on TV, is a man's release from the daily work grind, he said. It's tempting to spend all free time with those pursuits, he said, but telling related stories is just as rewarding.
Landes sells construction equipment in a business that's fast-paced and brutal, he said. This new pastime of author and bedtime reader has been his sanity check and stress reliever, he said.
"Fathers who work in a competitive or stressful business have a tendency, when they get home, to turn on a ballgame, eat dinner and when the kids go to bed, you're asleep in the chair," he said. "Then you get up and do it all over again the next day.
"If dads will spend an extra five or 10 minutes with their children, it means a lot to the kids and I think fathers will find out it means a lot to them."
Landes and his wife, Michelle, have two children: son Noah, 8, and daughter Morgan, 4. Landes' new reading habits have already strengthened his relationship with his children, he said, and it sparks their own imaginative storytelling.
"After I read a book to them, they start creating their own stories, and they tell me after I finish my story," he said. "That's where their personalities really come out."
The books are printed by Stroud Printing and are illustrated, some in watercolor and some in colored pencil. Illustrators are Shanda McDonald of Shawnee, Pam Clement of Stroud and Kelly Manning of Washington, Okla.
Landes' books are soon to be available through www.jimmyhouston.com, the Web site of the well-known outdoorsman, and he's hoping for placement in Bass Pro Shops.
Please call 1-800-775-7721 to place an order. Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards accepted. Sorry, no CODs.
Please call 1-800-775-7721 to place an order. Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards accepted. Sorry, no CODs.
Jimmy Houston Travel
PO Box 26
Cookson Oklahoma 74427
1-800-775-7721
1-918-457-5113
1-918-457-5436 FAX
