How Do You Read to a Child When You Can't Always Be There?

Reading Together Builds Lifetime Bonds.

Being the parent or grandparent of a young child is an important and special time in one's life. It's your opportunity to forge the loving bonds that will always connect families, no matter the distance that separates them. And for today's families, separation is a big issue. Grandparents may retire to a new state, or their kids (and their grandkids) may have to move to further their careers. Sadly, dedicated working parents, divorced moms and dads, and teachers do not always have the time to help children learn to read.

Whatever the reason, busy families may not spend as much time together as they would like. Luckily, there are many ways for long-distance grandparents to keep in touch. One tried-and-true method is through letters and photos. Phone calls and e-mails offer a more immediate way to keep in touch, both for grandparents and busy or divorced parents. Grandparents can listen and watch their grandkids grow up via video tapes. After all, nothing is as sweet to a mother's or grandmother's ear as the voice of their children and grandkids.

But cuddling up with your favorite child and reading their most treasured book is one thing you can't do long-distance. Until now. Literacy advocate and children's author Debra Giampapa Kirwan has created a unique, children's book that combines stories, colorful hand-painted illustrations and new microchip recordable technology (not a cassette or CD-ROM) into an interactive medium that enables you to read to a child and teach a child to read from near and far.

The new Record-Your-Voice Family Heirloom & Literacy Children's Book (patent-pending) allows a parent, grandparent, teacher, friend or anyone to record their own voice so they can read to a child and teach a child to read and count anytime, anyplace. "Your voice can last forever to hand down from generation to generation," says Kirwan. "We even have a place for a photograph!"

"Oh, Please Help Me Save the Tree!" is the first book in the Record-Your-Voice series. The hardcover book tells the story of Buford the Bull and his friends as they work together to save a fallen tree. The heart-warming story teaches a child to share, count, care about the environment, and learn to work together. The book incorporates microchip technology that allows you or the child to record and play back the story. A child can read along with your recorded voice or record their own voice.

"You (your recorded voice) are the one teaching the valuable lessons of self-esteem and morality, while helping encourage the skills that will foster a lifetime love of reading and learning," explains Kirwan. Children can read along in the book as the most important people in their life read it to them.

"The benefits of reading aloud together, from infancy to adolescence, have been proven time and again," says Kirwan. "This interactive book is educational, developmental, and helps make reading fun and exciting for kids, who love pressing the multi-colored, numbered buttons. Imagine, being able to hear your grandparent's voice 100 years from now. Now, it is possible."

Record-Your-Voice books are easy to use; they produce outstanding quality sound and can be recorded over and over or the recorded voice can be kept permanent. The recording does not erase when batteries are changed, which means that the book can become a family heirloom, featuring the voice of a beloved grandparent. There is a "special message" button designed to record a personal permanent message, and there is a protective plastic sleeve at the back of each book in which to include a cherished photograph.

Each copy of "Oh, Please Help Me Save the Tree!" is unique because every person tells the story in his or her own way and can personalize the story by adding the child's name. "Having a parent's real voice available at the press of a button offers a sense of security for the child," says Kirwan. "It provides a virtual presence that is truly priceless."

Record-Your-Voice books are not yet available in bookstores; they can be ordered at www.funzone.net or by calling (888) FUN-WORD (386-9673).

Courtesy of ARA Content

EDITOR'S NOTE: Debra Giampapa Kirwan was the first woman to receive the Entreprenuer Magazine's Innovator of the Year Award. She has also been nominated for Business Woman of the Year. Her company, FunZone, has been awarded Best Company Image. To arrange an interview with Kirwan, call her at (949) 723-4141.