Summer is here and it is important that we continue with our reading routine at home. Just because the kids don’t go to school, doesn’t mean they stop learning, right? I am excited to tell you about a book that was just published by Scholastic, entitled Emma is On the Air. This book appeals to second or third graders, between the ages of seven to ten. It is a fun, easy to read story of an eight-year old girl named Emma and her quest to becoming a very famous news reporter.
Emma is On the Air is the first in a series of Emma’s books created by Ida Siegal Perez, an award winning journalist and on-air reporter in New York City and works for WNBC. Siegal has two children that are half Dominican, which is why her Emma character is based on her own children’s heritage.
In the book, Emma is comically obsessed with fame, a personality trait encountered by the author during her field reporting. “Fame is not lost in children,” Siegal shares. “ This is a world that values fame, and they always ask if I am famous because I do the news. But I try to teach them that news is also about storytelling, problem-solving and people meeting.”
Emma’s father is a newspaper reporter and he teaches her the value of a good story and how to share it. He teaches her what to look for, who to talk to and what makes a story newsworthy. In the process, she might become famous!
At the end, Emma offers tips for how to come up with “not-boring news!”
Clever, imaginative and an easy to read narrative, Emma is On the Air is a fun and entertaining way to teach the kids about the world of news reporting.
For now Emma is On the Air is only in English but the Spanish version will be out soon. The second book in the Emma’s Adventures series, Emma is On the Air:Party Drama, will be out this September. For more information about the book, visit http://www.emmaisontheair.com/
