Hawk celebrates fall leaves

Fran Hawk couldn't identify many trees when she was a youngster.

"I always wished that I had known the names of leaves, and I didn't want my grandchildren not to know them," says Hawk, a children's book author who is also a children's book columnist for The Post and Courier.

So Hawk not only took care of making sure that her grandchildren will have that knowledge, but also gave the opportunity to children everywhere by writing the children's picture book "Count Down to Fall."

"I think this book is a must for young children because it introduces the concept that everything in nature, just as every person, has a name," says Hawk. "When we know a person, we know his family name. The same is true for trees and other aspects of nature."

In the book, illustrated by Sherry Neidigh, summer turns to fall and the leaves turn from green to orange and red as readers learn about the trees from which they fall: aspen, birch, maple, oak, chestnut, linden, pine, beech, dogwood and more. The book is geared toward 3- to 6-year-olds.

"Especially in the Lowcountry, where we don't have very many leaves that are turning, it's wonderful for children to know about leaves that turn in other places of the country," she says.

Hawk started researching trees and leaves for the book eight years ago.

"I think having grandchildren was just the motivation to get it done," says Hawk, who has four grands and two more on the way.

The book, which was published this summer, has been well-received so far.

"I got an e-mail from a woman who said, 'We love your book. We want you to write one for each season,' " she says.

"That personal letter meant the most to me."

Hawk said the book "needed just the right publisher," which she found in Mount Pleasant-based Sylvan Dell Publishing.

Sylvan Dell has a mission to bring science and math to children through literature. Every title includes a three- to five-page "For Creative Minds" educational section in the back of the book, and additional cross-curricular teaching activities, quizzes and eBooks are available on its Web site.

"Count Down" is Hawk's second book. Her first was "The Story of the H.L. Hunley and Queenie's Coin." She also has written "Ten Tips for Raising Readers," which is due out next month.

"My most favorite things are children, books and writing," says Hawk. "Writing children's books is my dream come true, because it combines all three."

Hawk says she enjoys visiting elementary schools to talk about leaves and the book.

For more information, visit sylvandellpublishing.com.

Brenda Rindge can be reached at 937-5713 or brindge@postandcourier. com.