Virginia Monaghan gets first children’s book published
?Monessen author Virginia Monaghan published her first children鈥檚 book after teaching high school for 36 years.
鈥淢anneranimals鈥� is written through the eyes of five different animals to teach children how to have good manners. Each animal has an alliterative name such as 鈥淓llie the Emu,鈥� and teaches a different social etiquette such as sharing or saying please and thank you.
鈥淚 thought children could relate to animals,鈥� said Monaghan.
Monaghan, a native of Donora, has lived in Monessen for about 40 years. She taught English and public speaking at Monessen High School until she retired in 2004.
鈥淚t was quite a diversion for me to write a children鈥檚 book after teaching high school for so many years,鈥� she said.
Monaghan got the idea after observing children who were misbehaving, and were acting, as she described, rude and inconsiderate. She worked on the book while she was still teaching, but it took seven years until she found a publisher.
鈥淚 received rejection after rejection, but I persevered,鈥� said Monaghan. 鈥淚 thought the book had merit, so I kept searching,鈥� she said.
Finally, Monaghan鈥檚 only child Melanie told her about a small company in Wisconsin called Mirror Publishing. They accepted her book.
Monaghan鈥檚 oldest granddaughter Quinn, who is 6 years old, helped her 鈥渄ress鈥� the animals by giving her ideas on what they should wear.
鈥淨uinn picked out the beads for 鈥楧ixie the Duck鈥�,鈥� Monaghan said. 鈥淚 knew she would be proud to see her ideas in the book and she was thrilled.鈥�
Her husband, Ed, was a consultant and adviser for the book. He was an elementary school teacher and guidance counselor for 35 years in the Albert Gallatin Area School District. He also coached basketball for many years.
鈥淏ecause of his experience, I looked to him for advice and ran my ideas by him for feedback,鈥� said Monaghan.
Monaghan has been reading her book at various elementary schools, preschools and libraries. She has future book signings scheduled.
The book is available online at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and local Barnes & Noble book stores.