Hyattsville Author Publishes New Learn to Read Children’s Book

Sixteen years ago, Beth Kantrowitz wrote a story to help her nephew learn to read.

Last year, the Hyattsville resident decided to share it with the rest of the world, publishing “Run, Sparky, Run,” in English and Spanish about an inquisitive squirrel.

“I decided to publish it now as a bright note in a world that has become ugly and dark this past year,” she told the Hyattsville Wire.

To publish the book, Kantrowitz raised money on GoFundMe and then submitted it to a hybrid publisher, Blue Balloon Books, paying for editing, illustration, layout, and marketing.

To publish the book, Kantrowitz raised money on GoFundMe, then submitted the book to a hybrid publisher, Blue Balloon Books, paying them for editing, illustration, layout, and marketing.

A native of New York, Kantrowitz has lived in Hyattsville since 1997 and previously lived in Adelphi and University Park while a graduate student at the University of Maryland.

An avid birder, she likes to spend time at Driskell Park and at various parks along the Anacostia River. In writing the book, she was particularly concerned that it contain scientifically accurate details about Eastern gray squirrels.

“Run, Sparky, Run” is Kantrowitz’s first published book, although when she was younger she wrote a “Star Trek” novel that “got as far as an agent bringing it to a publisher,” she said.

Copies of the book are available at My Dead Aunt’s Books in Hyattsville.

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