Author of children’s books, Firefighters headline Ramona Library Storytime on August 11

Firefighters and a children’s book author will bring storytime to life at the Ramona Community Library.

Ramona author Stephanie Kahle will read her book, “My Daddy Slays Dragons,” to children ages 7 and under at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, August 11. After the reading, the firefighters of Ramona Cal Fire will talk about what they do and give tours of their fire truck.

“I’m excited about it and I think it will be really engaging,” Kahle said. “Wherever there are firefighters, children fear them. Maybe it’s the uniforms or the fire engines. I’m just going for a walk.

Kahle’s book is told from the perspective of Kahle’s son, Tehren, who describes what his father, Ehren Kahle, does for a living. The story tells of a particular strike team mission in 2008, when Kahle, a fire captain and paramedic for Imperial Beach Fire Rescue, was away for 21 days battling a fire in Mendocino.

Stephanie Kahle made up the story that year to explain to Tehren, who was 4 at the time, and her 2-year-old sister, Vailyn, what their father was doing while he was away from home for Several weeks.

The book is written in a whimsical fairy tale style, comparing a fire to a dragon and a firefighter to a knight in shining armor.

“My daddy slays dragons, like he used to. He’s a knight in shining armor, like in the stories I’ve been told,” the story begins. steel he rides, the fight can last for weeks or until the danger subsides.”

“My Daddy Slays Dragons” was written to explain to Stephanie Kahle’s son, Tehren, why his father, Ehren, was away from home for so long while fighting the fires.

(Julie Gallant/Fulton Books)

Beverlee Cabral, who recently replaced Colleen Baker as the new Ramona Library branch manager, said the library has been slowly rolling out storytime since mid-June while returning to in-person post-COVID activities. Usually, weekly story times are held on Wednesdays, but a dispute with firefighter training moved the reading to Thursdays.

On July 27, the library hosted another law enforcement hero story hour, Cabral said. Ramona Sheriff’s Department Deputy Yasmina Taketa read the book “Officer Buckle and Gloria.” In this book, Gloria, the police dog, acts out Officer Buckle’s safety tips behind her back at a school assembly.

Cabral said the library plans to reach out to partner organizations to continue hosting story hours with themes.

“If the Youth Services librarian finds an organization to partner with, like the deputies, she’ll plug them into story time,” Cabral said. “We like to promote local authors. If they want to read their book, we allow them to do so here.

Kahle, who will work with students with special needs as a para-educator at Ramona High School this school year, practiced reading her book in front of an audience at the Imperial Beach Library branch on 20 July.

Her husband, Ehren, still works as a captionist at the Imperial Beach Fire Station, and his colleagues thought a reading “My Daddy Kills Dragons” would be a good introduction to their own presentation at the library.

“There’s a hero story hour at the Imperial Beach Library, so they asked me as the author to come over and read it to introduce them,” said Kahle, who holds an associate’s degree in education. in early childhood and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Cal State San Marcos. “They hadn’t had a hero story hour at the library since before COVID.

“It was fun to see the kids’ reaction,” she added. “It was exciting to see their faces and their reactions to the photos.”

Illustrator Karen Riedler, left, signs copies of ‘My Daddy Slays Dragons’ with author Stephanie Kahle at the San Diego County Fair.

(Courtesy of Stephanie Kahle)

Kahle also joined “My Daddy Slays Dragons” illustrator Karen Riedler in signing books at the recent San Diego County Fair. The burns institute bought some of the signed books to sell at the fair.

Kahle’s second book, “Stitch Bear,” which she expects to publish this year or next, is about a first responder sidekick. Stitch Bear is a character based on real traumatic bears that first responders give to children to comfort them during difficult experiences.

The moral of the story is that Stitch Bear is just stuffed, but the real hero is inside every person who can stay brave through hardship, Kahle said.

“Everyone has bad days,” the author said. “It’s nice to know you have the strength within you to get through the tough times.”

“My Daddy Slays Dragons” is available through online outlets including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Target.