Lindsay brings old manuscript to life

Lovell Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lindsay Lindsay recently self-published her first book entitled “Here Come the Clowns.” Ironically, she wrote the book as a student at LES many years ago, as part of a class assignment.

“I actually wrote the book when I was in fifth grade,” explained Lindsay. “I wrote the book in Ann Hinckley’s class and she is still here teaching at the school. We had a little competition in class to see who was the best author and I ended up winning a blue ribbon for the book.”

[caption id="attachment_9933" align="alignright" width="300"] Lovell Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lindsay Lindsay holds up a book she self-published entitled “Here Come the Clowns.”
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]

Lindsay decided to dust off the old manuscript about five years ago after having it stored away for about 20 years. With the encouragement of her husband Chad, she approached her brother-in-law Kenneth Cutler of Rock Springs to create the illustrations for the book.

“My brother-in-law is an amazing artist,” she said. “He went through my pages and created an illustration to go with the descriptions on the pages.”

Lindsay said she loved the illustrations but got busy and put the project on the “back burner” again for a few more years.

In the meantime she became a kindergarten teacher and started an ambitious master’s degree program in her spare time. One of the assignments in her program was to create an original story and present it with illustrations. Again, she dusted off the old manuscript, which she submitted, this time with the very professional looking illustrations created by her brother-in-law.

“I put it all together and printed it out,” said Lindsay. “I brought a copy into my classroom and my kindergarten kids just loved it. It was fun to watch them reading my book.”

The book got even more exposure when some of Lindsay’s master’s degree program classmates, who are teachers in Powell, used the book during a circus they held at their school.

Lindsay said the book was so well-received by the children and her professional peers that she decided to self-publish about five hardcover copies, which she may use to find a publisher for the book. She said she is also considering the option of just publishing more on her own.

“I only printed five because I wanted to see what the book would look like,” she said. “I just did it all myself, at my own expense.”

Lindsay said, as a teacher, she has found the book has many components that are compatible with how reading is taught in today’s classrooms.

“The book teaches fluency, it teaches rhyming, phonemic awareness,” she said. “That’s something  I can use in my classroom.”

Her former teacher, and now fellow teacher, Ann Hinckley said she is impressed with the book.

“It’s a simple story, but sometimes that turns out to be the best,” she said. “I love it. I think it’s awesome, colorful and bright and appealing from beginning to end.”

Hinckley said Lindsay always stood out as a student.

“She was a good student and now she is a great teacher and I don’t take a bit of credit for that. It’s all her,” she said.

By Patti Carpenter