{"id":25247,"date":"2013-11-06T14:44:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T20:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=25247"},"modified":"2013-11-06T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2013-11-06T20:44:09","slug":"spring-womans-books-translated-into-sign-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/11\/06\/spring-womans-books-translated-into-sign-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring woman’s books translated into sign language"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSpring woman's books translated into sign language<\/strong>
\n<\/h2>\n

\n\tBy Flori Meeks \n<\/p>\n

\n\tOctober 29, 2013\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSpring-area resident Marcia Bennett has loved reading since she was a child.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I could not wait to get home from school and grab a snack and a book," said Bennett, 83.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt means a lot to Bennett now to know that children's books she has written during the last decade could be enticing new generations of children to lose themselves in a story.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"It is very gratifying," Bennett said. "I'm so pleased when I hear about a reluctant reader who enjoyed one of my books."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBennett, who lives in The Village at Gleannloch Farms, writes mostly for children, though she has written a humorous novel for adults.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNow the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin is translating two of her children's books into American Sign Language to be signed on a video.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"She was so positive and passionate about this," said Sonia Bridges, distance-learning specialist for the school. "We're pretty lucky to have found her."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBennett, who grew up in Atlanta, got her first taste of writing as a reporter for her high school newspaper.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter marrying, she focused on being a full-time homemaker. She and her late husband, Bill Bennett, had three children. They moved with Bill's job to Mississippi, and later to Texas.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I used to write to my mother about the children and their antics," Bennett recalled. "We didn't have Facebook."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAn influence\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBennett's mother couldn't resist sharing the letters with others, including one friend who had them published them in the local newspaper.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Bennett's youngest child started kindergarten, Bennett started volunteering at his school and later took a job as a special education teaching aide.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLater, she started taking night classes at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe completed her bachelor's degree in library science in 1983, and then started working on her master's degree.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Bennett retired before completing her graduate studies, she did get work before that as a school librarian.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was during one of her college courses, a class on children's literature, when Bennett started writing again.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe students were assigned to write their own children's book, complete with illustrations, and bind it.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"That was so much fun," Bennett said. "I still have it."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first of Bennett's books to be published was "Mystery at Jacob's Well," which came out in 2001 when Bennett was 71.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe started writing it after a friend who wrote adult mystery books turned down a publisher's request to write a children's mystery book and passed on the project to Bennett.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe story was inspired by a visit to Jacob's Well Natural Area in Wimberley.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"It was a beautiful, fascinating place," Bennett said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn her mystery novel, geared for ages 8-13, four students get entangled in a local mystery while preparing a science report on caves.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book's sequel, "Mystery at Saddlecreek," brings the original characters back to a subdivision of Wimberley to solve another mystery.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of Bennett's favorite books is "The Backpack Cat," set in Corpus Christi.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this story, a 9-year-old boy dealing with his parents' separation is sent to live with his grandmother and finds that she and her cat are cooler than he thought they'd be.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2004 book is for children age 4 and up.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBennett's humorous novel for adults, "Ladies of the Bomb Squad," is the story of four older women, best friends, and their adventures together.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"Somebody Left the Door Open," is a book of verse and a nod to one of Bennett's favorite writers, poet Shel Silverstein.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"Umbrella Town"\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe latest book by Bennett, "Umbrella Town," was published in 2012.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the story, a little girl living in Umbrella Town ignites the other townspeople's anger when she seeks a way to transform her black umbrella to full color.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book won first prize in the Texas Katherine Anne Porter Literary Contest.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"Umbrella Town" will be the first book translated by the Texas School for the Deaf, followed by "Mystery at Jacob's Well."\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"We were dong a little bit of research on authors in central Texas and found her and found her book," Bridges said. "She was really open to working with us."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe videos of the books being presented in sign language will be available to the school's students, and also to deaf and hearing-impaired children throughout the state.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA number of these children are not read to because their parents or teachers do not know how to sign the story.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"The students will get to see the books read in their language," Bridges said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"We hope the kids will more fully understand the stories."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBennett said she loves the idea of helping a wider base of children.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I felt really pleased.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"The school has a storytelling site.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I can't wait to hear when the books will be on there."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWriting for children has been a satisfying experience, Bridges added, and has felt very comfortable for her.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I try to have cliff-hangers.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I do not particularly worry about vocabulary.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I think my own vocabulary must be about fourth grade."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt may be a while before she writes another book, however.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe said she is feeling more inspired to focus on her other interests, including pottery and making miniature furniture.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAt one point, she said, she built a harp and then learned to play it.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"I'm no good at it, but it's entertainment for me."\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFor more information about Bennett's books, visit http:\/\/www.marciabennett.com<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSOURCE:\n<\/p>\n

\n\thttp:\/\/www.chron.com\/neighborhood\/spring\/news\/article\/Spring-woman-s-books-translated-into-sign-language-4936489.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring woman's books translated into sign language By Flori Meeks  October 29, 2013 Spring-area resident Marcia Bennett has loved reading since she was a child. "I could not wait to get home from school and grab a snack and a…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,175,19490,11883,19488,20139,20140,19489,19492,191,19493,19494,8653,20141,604,9867],"class_list":["post-25247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-book","tag-children-book","tag-flori-meeks","tag-gleannloch-farms","tag-jacobs-well-natural-area","tag-ladies-of-the-bomb-squad","tag-marcia-bennett","tag-mystery-at-jacobs-well","tag-sign-language","tag-somebody-left-the-door-open","tag-sonia-bridges","tag-spring","tag-texas-katherine-anne-porter-literary-contest","tag-texas-school-for-the-deaf","tag-wimberley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-6zd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24087,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/07\/31\/redefining-reading-author-has-book-translated-into-sign-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":25247,"position":0},"title":"Redefining reading: Author has book translated into sign language","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"July 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Redefining reading: Author has book translated into sign language July 30, 2013 For 83-year-old resident of The Village at Gleannloch Farms Marcia Bennett, words have always been a huge part of her life. 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