By Laura Lane
"We were talking about how newspapers always say negative things about what kids do," said Paltrowitz. "The kids don't speak up for themselves because there isn't an outlet for them. We wanted to give kids a voice to discuss what was important to them, issues from their point of view."
The pair created Book Web Publishing to offer a variety of one-visit programs to schools, as well as a program that would help students write, edit, design and illustrate their own books by partnering with Fink and Paltrowitz for an entire school year.
Paltrowitz is a reading specialist who once worked in New York City schools, and Fink is a family therapist with a practice in Merrick. The two women were already experienced authors. Paltrowitz had published books with her husband, Stuart, and Fink had published professional books, adult novels and non-fiction, with a portfolio of more than 60 articles appearing in newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post, and magazines like Redbook.
Fink and Paltrowitz recently visited Park Avenue Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District (though the school is in North Merrick) for a one-visit program. They spent last year with seventh-graders at Merrick Avenue Middle School helping them write a book.
After the Park Avenue program, teachers were impressed with Paltrowitz and Fink. The authors had given some of their books to teachers before the visit to share with students. After reading the books and seeing the program, Park Avenue teachers were sure that it would benefit their classes to work with the two authors.
The books introduced children to Gizmo, an 86-pound Labradoodle who is a therapy dog. When Gizmo greeted Park Avenue children during the program, there was a buzz of excitement in the room -- and lessons to be learned too.
"Gizmo promotes character education," explained Paltrowitz. "He doesn't care what you wear or how tall you are. He greets everyone equally. Gizmo teaches children that everyone's voice should be heard."
The two authors believe that once children meet Gizmo, they want to learn more about him, and they'll do whatever it takes to do so, even read.
"Some kids don't want to read, but when we say we have a book written by kids like them, and there's a dog in it, you can't stop them," said Fink. "The only complaint we have from teachers is that they can't get the kids to do anything else. When they write the books they forget that they're doing something academic."
Since working on a book is a yearlong commitment, the Park Avenue teachers will have to look toward next year. But if they want to investigate the idea, they can speak to Ellen Schwartz, an English Language Arts seventh-grade teacher from Merrick Avenue Middle School who had her class last year work on "The Gizmo Tales: Hero Dogs."
Schwartz, who retired last June after teaching for 30 years, said the hardest part was giving up writing the books with her classes. She found working with Fink and Paltrowitz so beneficial that she had all of her classes work with them three separate years. Schwartz said that writing the books presented a deeper learning experience for her students.
"Thirteen-year-old kids are into only themselves, and they put that aside to write the books," said Schwartz. "And the kids learned research skills, interview techniques, and what they learned they carried over to social studies and science."
When writing "The Gizmo Tales: Hero Dogs," students researched many types of working dogs. Some gathered information on dogs trained to work on canine detection teams to sniff out contraband smuggled illegally into the country, while others studied the origins of Bide-A-Wee.
"The Gizmo Tales: Hero Dogs" features a chapter on presidential pups and the legend behind Rin Tin Tin. Students learned about Trouble, a 7-year-old beagle that works for the Department of Homeland Security, and Roselle, a guide dog who led his blind owner, who was working on the 78th floor in the World Trade Center's north tower on Sept. 11, to safety.
"Writing the book was a long process in which rather than teaching kids straight grammar, etc., I used the creation of the book," recalled Schwartz. "Writing the book was interesting and different for them, and they all worked together on it. They shared ideas, and had tolerance for each other. They learned more about punctuation because they wanted their book to be perfect."
When the book is complete, kids enjoy the added thrill of taking part in a book signing at Borders Books in Westbury. It's the first time they see the completed book, an experience that Fink said she always enjoys witnessing.
"Donna and I sit back and watch the kids' responses, how they glow, the smiles on their faces," said Fink. "The book empowers them in such a wonderful way, and it permanently changes them. I get letters from kids who published books years ago, and they tell me how thrilled they are that their words were heard. Writing the books give the children a platform where everyone can shine."
Comments about this story? Llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
