Helen Ketteman Biography
Biographies of Other Children's Authors
"I grew up in Harlem, Georgia. I lived in Georgia all my life until I married. When I was a child, we didn't have much for girls to do in our small town - there were no organized sports for girls, and no one watched television in those days. (Yes, it WAS invented!) But there wasn't much on TV for kids. And I'm glad there wasn't. Because that gave me more time to read. I read all the time when I was growing up. Books were a way I could visit places I thought I'd never go and meet people I'd never get the chance to meet. They also gave me the adventures I wanted so badly.
Reading stretched my imagination, and I started making up stories for my two younger sisters, and making up plays and inviting the neighbors. I know that the reason I'm a writer today is because I read so much as a child.
I choose to write books because reading was so important to me as a child (and it still is!). Life for children growing up today is so different from when I grew up. Children are exposed to so much more through television, movies, and the internet. They often have so much going on in their lives they barely have time to sit and read. But I think reading is still important, and something everyone should do - a LOT! And so I write my stories. It's my hope that when a child finds and reads one of my books - even a reluctant reader - he'll like it, he'll have fun with it, and make time to read another book. I write so that children will read. And once they start, who knows where it'll take them?"
The above text is used by permission from Helen Ketteman
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