By Kayla Bruch

An author unlocks children’s imaginations

Jan 25, 2015 | 11:23 AM

The wait is over for fans of a local author, he has launched his newest book called The Pictures Are Gone.

During a book launch on Saturday at the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library, Trent Gillespie interacted with and engaged children in the reading of his new book.

The children’s book is a change from his typical Sci-Fi style of writing and caters to kids. He said it was inspired by his two daughters ages seven and five as well as another author.

“The books that I have written are not for younger kids and so they [his kids] kept asking if they could have a story for them,” he said. “This book came after I read B.J. Novak’s book, The Book with No Pictures, and I decided to make up my own, but draw my own pictures because I’m not an illustrator, [and] I don’t know any illustrators.”

After writing about four or five children’s books, his girls and wife agreed he should publish The Pictures Are Gone as well as My Book is Broken which should be released in May and a third book this year.

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“This fall I should have one called The Week The Tooth Fairy Got Sick and that was inspired by a quick conversation that my kids had on the way to ringette and I just created a whole story about that one,” he said.

There are benefits to both books with images as well as without said Gillespie.

“With images…it’s good to teach them interactive reading…you can ask them can you see these pictures and the images, whereas without pictures you have to create your own in your mind,” he said. His new book “allows the kids to create those images in the mind to prepare them for…novel stories when they grow up where they’ve got to visualize.”

This is Gillespie’s fourth book release including his original Galactic Odyssey Trilogy.

For more information on this local author you can check out Gillespie’s blog and Facebook.

kbruch@panow.com

On Twitter: @KaylaBruch1