Guiding the misguided
Published 7:55 am Thursday, October 18, 2018
- Star Photo/Andrew Wadovick Katherine Eaton has written two Spiritual Devotionals before publishing her first children's book. "Misguided Kathy: Learning Compassion." Eaton said she plans on making this the first fo a series, with "Learning Kindness" and "Learning Respect" in the works. The books are meant to teach children how to express what Eaton says are important life values.
After decades of experience, a native resident has decided it is time to impart the lessons she has learned to those who need them the most.
Katherine Eaton has been publishing books since 2015, with a small devotional series she self-published on Amazon called “Guided by God.”
This time around, she is delving less into spiritual topics, and more into children’s literature, starting with “Misguided Katy: Learning Compassion.”
Eaton said the inspiration came from her experiences working as a paraprofessional, or teaching assistant, in elementary schools for 16 years.
“I started seeing a lot of disrespect [from the children] towards teachers,” Eaton said. “Teachers were pressured to teach faster, and there was no communication between the children and the teachers.”
Eaton said she based the book’s main character, Katy, off of herself, to showcase to children how to handle embarrassing or otherwise awkward situations.
“I wanted to take my life experiences and make it modern for today’s kids,” she said.
The book’s premise, she said, was to show both girls and boys the value in compassion and the value in expressing it, a message she said the book conveys through humor.
“Children find it funny,” Eaton said. “I wanted to use that to convey the message.”
Eaton is currently in the middle of a 5-week book tour across the country, reading to and selling the book to hundreds of children, including Texas and her current home in Florida.
She said she has also donated copies of her book to children in need during her tour.
Eaton said she is happy to take her experiences and use them to help others.
“Elizabethton was a wonderful place to grow up,” she said. “We had time to play outside and use our imaginations.”
Eaton plans to make “Misguided Kathy” into a series, with two more books planned already: “Learning Kindness,” and “Learning Respect,” with similar themes as the first book with different lessons to impart to readers.
Eaton said she hopes children take something away from her books, lessons about compassion and life values.
