HOMEPAGE for this issue: November 24, 2010

Local author's peek-a-boo books teach faith, entertain

Author and mother Loretta Oakes loves to read to her children.  It was this love of reading that set her on the path to become a children’s author with not one, but two children’s books published in September. 

The books, “Peek-a-boo Jesus!” and “A Peek-a-boo Christmas!,” are designed to bring the story of Jesus to young children outside of the realm of the traditional Bible story.

A Denver native, Oakes wanted to study art at Colorado State University, but was steered toward another field by her father.

“My dad thought I should study something more substantial; something with which I’d be sure I could earn a living,” she said. 

So, armed with a knack for math and science, Oakes became an engineer and after earning her degree worked for IBM, Motorola, Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon. But when she started a family, her life changed.

“After the birth of my first child, I did some consulting, but my first job was being a stay-at-home mom,” she said. “At the same time, I was doing some writing.”

As her family grew—Oakes and husband Jeff now have three children—she continued to read to her kids and realized that there weren’t a lot of good board books for preschoolers that were in the Christian realm.

“Most of them dealt with how to say your prayers, but nothing that introduced Jesus at all, other than the traditional Bible story,” she said.  “I wanted to write a book that let kids know that Jesus loves them now, that he’s real and not just relegated to the Bible.”

The books are made of reinforced cardboard that can stand up to rough and tumble play and feature colorful illustrations by United Kingdom native Mary Hall.

Each page in “Peek-a-boo Jesus!” asks the question: “Where is…?” On the opposite page is a flap that children pull back to reveal the answer.  Using the game of peek-a-boo, it entertains children and teaches a lesson at the same time.

“Everyone from babies to seniors love to play peek-a-boo,” Oakes said.  “(The book) says, just because you can’t see me, doesn’t mean I’m not here.  That’s what I want children to understand about Jesus.”

It took six years of searching for a publisher before Paulist Press of New Jersey signed Oakes to a contract. At a publishers convention last summer, the peek-a-boo books proved popular with bookstore buyers and since publication in September, Oakes has made appearances at preschools where she reads to the students.  The children are happy to play the fun game and reaction from parents has been more than she hoped for.

“Everyone loved the fact that their kids could interact with Jesus,” Oakes said.

Oakes invites people to her blog, lorettaoakes.blogspot. com, where she elaborates on the one-on-one time she shares with the preschoolers and the reaction she gets from them after they read her stories.

Despite the favorable reaction to her books Oakes, isn’t resting on her laurels.  She’s currently researching a historical fiction story as well as planning other children’s books focused on the Sacred Heart.

“But those books are down the road,” she said.