By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As a life-long educator, Darlene DeCrane sensed that youngsters were feeling isolated by the coronavirus.
For months, her granddaughter, Addison Grace, had been separated from her friends. Sleeping in and watching movies all day quickly lost their thrill for the 9-year-old.
“I don’t think kids really have anything to read about what is going on,” said DeCrane, who taught for 18 years, and was a principal for 12 years at South Main Elementary, Kenwood Elementary and Waterville Elementary. “They need to read something that makes them feel this is a little bit normal.”
After being isolated from school and classmates for months, Addison and three friends – along with their parents – devised safe ways for the friends to play together.
The girls – dubbed the “Four Ever Friends” – found ways to play together while being “socially distanced.” The book tells how activities like drawing with sidewalk chalk, using a “slip n slide” and playing with guinea pigs could all be done safely.
The girls got creative in their quest to play together, and wrote a rap song about the coronavirus.
“Our granddaughter was so thrilled when they worked out a way to play together,” DeCrane said. “Maybe you can’t play in the ways you did before. You just have to be creative.”
When DeCrane heard about the friends, her own creativity kicked into high gear. She had always dreamed of writing, but had given up on ever checking that off her list.
“I really thought that ship had sailed,” she said.
But then came the coronavirus, which kept DeCrane and her husband, Gregg, from traveling and doing many of their regular activities.
That gave DeCrane time to focus on projects she had pushed on the back burner, like digitizing slides and making memory books for their kids.
And when Addison shared with her grandma about the “Four Ever Friends” group, the ideas started flowing.
“I thought, geez, that sounds just like a kids’ chapter book – and a sequel,” DeCrane said.
As a former first grade teacher, DeCrane had seen the value of books that stuck with the same characters.
“They read one, then they get hooked on another,” she said. “Then all of the sudden, they are hooked on reading.”
DeCrane wants the books to be a tool for teachers and parents who want to help children understand that it is possible to strengthen friendships and even have fun during difficult times.
The book is aimed at children ages 6 to 10.
The DeCranes, who now live in North Carolina, returned to Bowling Green last week for a visit. On the way to Ohio, the couple stopped to visit Addison and her three friends in Tennessee.
“They really were thrilled,” Darlene DeCrane said. “These little girls thought they were going to be famous.”
The book was dedicated to the girls.
“I gave them autographed books and made them masks,” with “Four Ever Friends” written on them, she said.
And once again, COVID seemed to spur more creativity.
“One of the little girls asked if she could write a graphic novel and send it to me,” DeCrane said.
DeCrane achieves two goals by self-publishing her first book.
“I wanted to put something in the hands of kids so they could read about what’s going on now,” she said.
And Decrane is offering schools and groups the opportunity to sell the books as fundraisers. Any profits from the sale of books must go toward educational or literacy initiatives.
DeCrane is planning to publish the second book, called “The Four Ever Friends’ Tiny House Vacation,” in late fall. She also has plans for a third in the series, called “The Four Ever Friends Turn 10,” about how kids can celebrate birthdays during COVID.
DeCrane’s grandson, Collin Snyder, who attends Anthony Wayne High School, volunteered to do illustrations for at least the first and second books.
“I think it’s growing on him,” she said.
Copies can be ordered at Amazon.com, by typing “Darlene DeCrane” in the search window. Copies can also be found at www.thefoureverfriends.com, by clicking on the “purchase now” button.
DeCrane is hoping to create an interactive website.
“Students who read the book can give some input into future books,” she said.
So after believing the chance of becoming an author has passed her by, DeCrane is satisfying her desire to write and to help children.
“This has really been great – getting back and doing something for kids,” she said.
