Touring the southeast during education week, Sheryl Kennett-Garrett and Ione Krainyk were welcomed into numerous schools to read their books to students in Kindergarten to grade two. Locally they stopped by Manor School and Carlyle Elementary School where the children sat engrossed in the two tales.
Krainyk read a true story which was written by her sisters, Zelda Luchenski and Nona McMillan, and illustrated by Krainyk, about Penelope: The House of Pretend.
"My grandpa built that playhouse for us. My grandparents had 18 grandchildren all within seven miles of Fillmore,” explained Krainyk to The Observer previously. “We played in it, we had birthday parties in it. Later on, it became a bunkhouse at White Bear Lake and my grandma had it set up with two double beds and two little camp beds, so six of us could sleep there. When my grandma passed away, the playhouse went back to Fillmore and became my mom's garden shed. When my mom was passing away, she made me promise to take it and use it as a playhouse for her great-grandchildren to play in and now, it's in my yard and my grandchildren play in it."
A story about her family and how her grandfather, with help from his grandkids and a neighbour, built a playhouse for his grandchildren.
The children enjoyed the story and asked questions about the story.
Children also enjoyed a second story by Kennett-Garrett who wrote Grandma's Quilts, which is the story about a little girl and her grandmother. Although she drew inspiration from her life in writing the story, it was a work of fiction.
“Two years ago I wrote the book, I was substituting in a Kindergarten class and I remembered I had saved a story from when I was a teacher,” Kennett-Garrett said. “I used to write while my students wrote and I remembered I had this story, so I went back and found it, and revised it some.”
The students were quite excited to listen to the two stories and were wowed by the storytellers. Both came dressed in costume, their apron pockets containing a handkerchief, Krainyk's bunched up in the way her grandmother used to stuff it in her pocket, and Kennett-Garrett's carefully folded up in the way her grandmother used to keep her handkerchief.
A fun way to enjoy education week the youth enjoyed the opportunity to meet the two women and listen to their stories.
