Two children’s books by Gaynell R. Jamison, a graduate of UALR’s College of Education Reading Recovery program, have been selected for publication by the Reading Recovery Council of North America in a national contest to seek reading books for the nation’s elementary classrooms.

Jamison, a 30-year veteran teacher in the Monticello School District mostly in the field of reading, was the only new author selected from Arkansas among the 33 new authors whose books were chosen out of the 340 manuscripts submitted.

Jamison holds both an educational specialty degree in reading and a Reading Recovery Certificate from UALR and currently works as a Reading Recovery teacher leader at the Southwest Arkansas Reading Recovery Consortium serving six school districts: Crossett, Dermott, Drew Central, McGehee, Monticello, and Warren.

Jamison’s books: “My Loose Tooth” and “One Halloween Night” are scheduled to be released in early fall by the Hameray Publishing Co. Hawkins Books of Quitman will be the Arkansas representative for Hameray.

Hameray will make a matching donation to the Reading Recovery Council of North America in Jamison’s name for every book sold.

“It has always been my dream to someday write my own children’s books,” Jamison said. “I am excited that my books will have the opportunity to be utilized in classrooms and public schools across the nation. Early and emergent readers as well as struggling learners are my passion. Making a difference and helping a child to learn to read is the most valuable work there is – that is a legacy within itself.”

UALR is one of only 22 accredited University Training Centers (UTC) in the United States. Since 1991, the UALR UTC has provided specialized training to more than 100 Reading Recovery teacher leaders from Arkansas, Missouri, Alaska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. These leaders have provided specialized training to more than 1,000 Reading Recovery teachers in their respective states.

Reading Recovery is an early intervention for at-risk and struggling learners in first grade who are in danger of not learning to read or experiencing reading difficulties. Founded in New Zealand, the program came to the U.S. 25 years ago. Now in 47 states, Reading Recovery serves more than 82,000 first graders in the U.S. each year.