The author of The Golden Banana Peels is Dr. Jan Gentry. Jan is a K-12 Reading Specialist with a Ph.D. in Reading and English. Her professional affiliations include the International Literacy Association and two honorary fraternities. A mother and grandmother, she strongly supports environmental and animal associations.

Message from the Author

I am excited that my children's book with 22 full page color illustrations has been published. The setting of the story takes place in a jungle with animal neighbors. Children have fun learning two very important lessons in life: friends need to work together to solve a problem, and nature needs protection.

I actually wrote the first draft over 30 years ago. Life got too busy with family, tutoring, and school. I put the manuscript in a file folder to resume at a later time, but years went by and I simply forgot about it.

Recently, my granddaughter and I went through all my tutoring files. She is in her third year of college to become an elementary teacher and she was gathering resources for her future students. In my composition files was The Golden Banana Peels, paper yellowed from years gone by with faded typed words from my typewriter.

After reading it, I made many changes. I wanted better descriptions of jungle fauna and flora. I found that banana peels actually help purify river water and promote fish health.

Knowing children love repetition in stories, the animal neighbors repeatedly, in order, speak their minds- Susan the snake, Wilber the wild boar, Anna the alligator, and Harry the hyena.

The publishing editor of Outskirts Press sent me an email. He stated, "Loved this story! Very reminiscent of Aesop's fables - but with the added benefits of resolution and friendship." Page 36 was his favorite.

To a better future of global friendship and protection of nature,
Dr. Jan

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