Imagine That! Eagle Creek Academy Teacher Publishes Book

This week as thousands of kids in the area read books for school assignments or participate in battle of the books competitions as part of national reading month, they might come across one of local interest.

The new book Imagine That! was written and illustrated by teacher Melissa Cavanaugh. The book caters to students ages pre-kindergarten through second grade, stemming from Cavanaugh's experience as a teacher. Currently, the Sterling Heights resident teaches third grade at the Oakland Township school.

"I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl and I also always aspired to be an author or an illustrator," Cavanaugh said. "I've always loved kids and always had a passion for learning and wanted to pass that on."

Though Cavanaugh has been teaching for 10 years, this past fall the New York native finally was able to meet her goal of becoming an author and illustrator by publishing Imagine That!. Cavanaugh noted that she has worked on many children's books over the years, but after taking a master's writing class at Oakland University and receiving positive feedback from one of her creative writing assignments, she was inspired to take it to the next level.

Cavanaugh credits her mother Mary for connecting her with the book's publisher, Nick Agro. Cavanaugh said her mother went to a book signing of Agro's and asked him how to get a book published. Agro, who also owns Little Harbor Publishing in New York, offered to give Cavanaugh's book a read if she contacted him.

"It just sort of happened where the book was finally finished and my mom always knew I wanted to be a writer ... it just all came together," she said.

Students inspired the book

Imagine That! is about a young boy who opens up a treasure chest and each times he opens it he goes into a different land and adventure, such as under the sea and on a safari. Cavanaugh remembers being a young girl, and though her family couldn't travel often, she would imagine the places she would go and decided to make those trips a reality when she grew up. Aside from her own experience, the ideas within the book came from her students, one in particular.

"There was a kid in my class (in New York) who passed away from cancer," she said. "She managed to fight some of the trauma by visualizing she was somewhere else - like swimming with dolphins – that’s how she got through the pain." That student showed Cavanaugh how powerful imagination really is.

Many of the ideas in Cavanaugh's book also came from her students' journal entries. Kids always write about flying and princesses, she said, so she picked out some of the popular themes and embedded them in her rhyme-filled children's book.

"One of the most exciting moments was when I shared it with my students," she said. "They read the title and who wrote it and one of the kids said, 'Isn't your name Melissa?' They were really excited about that."

Overcoming challenges

The hardest part for Cavanaugh was completing the illustrations for the book. At first, the publisher sought out illustrators, but after realizing their visions were not correlating with what Cavanaugh envisioned, she decided to give it a try. The result is a vibrant and colorful 20-page book.

"I didn’t know if I could really pull off a whole book," she said, noting that she is capable of drawing, but typically only if she is looking at what she wants to draw, not visualizing it in her mind and putting it to paper.

To solve her problem she asked her nieces and nephews to put on camouflage and ferry wings, and other outfits to get her started. She admitted she isn't sure she would be able to complete illustrations for another book again but would like to publish some of the other books she has been storing away. First, she would like to see how her first book does on the market before pursuing publishing another one.

"It’s really fun to be able to look at it published. Plus, it’s a great lesson to teach my students and my future baby," she said, noting she is pregnant with her first child. "The moral is, if you set your mind to something you can do it."

Cavanaugh said she has book readings at local schools planned to celebrate reading month.

Imagine That! is for sale on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com for $9.95.