Hilarious things that students have said and done have inspired a local Grade 1 teacher to write her first children’s book.
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Diane Henrique of Brantford, who taught at a Haldimand County elementary school, made the transition to teaching Grade 1 a few years ago from teaching Grade 3 and 4 classes.
“That in itself was extremely eye-opening, and it was just kind of a journey of me growing with the kids because it was a huge learning curve for me too,” Henrique explained. “And it was during that time of me transitioning to teaching Grade 1 that I started to write down funny things that the kids were saying.”
Grade One Is No Fun is the book’s title, which the author said first came to mind after her 2023-2024 class provided her with many cute and funny moments dealing with children coming out of kindergarten stating ‘I don’t want to be here. I don’t like the rules.’
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The book’s central character is Henny D, which the author describes as a spirited Grade 1 student with boundless energy, a glittering imagination, and a lot of feelings.
“I had a little girl last year in my class and she was just full of energy and could not sit still to save her life,” Henrique noted. “She was just exuberant and fun, and she expressed herself by doing cartwheels through the classroom, and blurting out anything at any time.”
The author recognized that this is how the child expressed herself, and as a teacher, learned how to teach with her in mind as well as other classmates.
“There was a time for allowing her imagination and diligence and creativity to come through, and it was a learning journey for her and other kids in my classroom to slowly adapt to more of the procedures and rules. But it was definitely a year-long process.”
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A notebook given to Henrique by a parent for jotting things down became a springboard to creative writing, something she had never done before.
“One day I just decided I thought I can do this, and with lots of support from my husband, I did,” she shared. “It really surprised me because this was never a goal or a vision I had for myself.”
Illustrated by Bonnie Lemaire, Henrique has self-published Grade One is No Fun through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing that can be ordered on Amazon as a Kindle edition, paperback or hardcover.
Meantime, she has written a second book – attemptedly titled Bring Back the Blurts – part of a continuing series called the Adventures of Henny D.
“I’m extremely passionate about being an advocate for children’s’ literacy,” she explained. “I just wanted to create a book that kids want to pick up because it’s fun, but also because they see themselves in it.
“I want to represent these kids that I’m working with every day and that I see are struggling with some things, or that just have a different way of managing their feelings, emotions, and energy.”
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