Concerned about Harry's weight gain and lack of exercise, his pet hamster arranges for him to spend a month at a unique camp, where Harry is transformed into someone who understands that eating right and staying in shape can be fun.
Teresa Bateman was born in Moscow, Idaho, but moved to Washington State when she was three-years-old and that's where she has lived most of her life.
An avid writer and reader, Teresa has been making up stories and poems since she was in grade school. "To me it was as natural as breathing," says Teresa.
In school Teresa would drive her teachers crazy by 'creatively' completing assignments. She always met the letter of their assignment, if not the spirit. She worked hard to inject some humor into her work, knowing that the teachers would be reading hundreds of papers and wanting hers to stand out. It worked.
Teresa took English classes for fun in college and when she applied for a Washington State Teaching credential, the state looked at her transcripts and added an endorsement to teach English through the 12th grade!
Teresa cites her teacher Donnell Hunter at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, as having a big influence on her and her writing. He published a class magazine to which the class submitted their work under pen names. Their grades depended on how many stories were included in the magazine. Teresa submitted under about 15 different pen names--just to be annoying! But she knew her work was being judged on its merits alone. Mr. Hunter encouraged her journal writing and instilled in Teresa good writing habits that she continues to this day.
Teresa served an 18-month mission for her church in Argentina, and taught school for a year in Honduras. She also taught school briefly in St. Mary's, Alaska -- a little bush village with a population of 500 in the winter and 50 in the summer. She has been a librarian in the Federal Way School District in Washington for over 30 years.
Teresa writes every single day. She also works full-time, so that means some days she doesn't write much, but she always writes. When at home, Teresa's special spot for writing has a good view of the lilac bushes outside. A picture of a winding path through gentle rolling hills and meadows hangs on the wall. She tells herself, when stuck for an idea, that the story lies at the end of that path.
This story completely freaked me out, but I liked it. It's funky and actually quite inspiring, in a super weird and furry kind of way. We often have to be pushed and coerced out of our comfort zone before we can start to live a healthier life and influence others to be healthy, too.
This book teaches kids how to be healthy and fit. Usually books like this tend to be too didactic and will bore kids, but the fantastical element of the kids turning into hamsters should keep them entertained.
possibility for a fitness or summer camp program. Story in rhyming text. Children turning into hamsters to get fit has a humorous quality to it. Preschool-early elem recommendation.
The theme of the story was well intentioned and there were some cute rhymes. As a whole, however, it left me winded. The story is quite long and there is no flow in sentence usage and story.