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The TV anchorman who became an author
In his spare time, KARE's Kupchella has taken to writing children's books
Written by Cheryl Johnson,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
June 10, 2003, page B4
TV newsrooms are like pre-school playgrounds. Small wonder, then, that
KARE-11's Rick Kupchella's first book, "Tell Me What We Did Today," is for
children 2 to 5. "I'm not afraid of saying that television is a wonderful
training ground for children's books," he said with a laugh. "You get
simple messages. You find creative ways of engaging your audience." The
hope is that you learn how to play nicely with others and aren't traumatized
by the teacher's methods. Already working on a contract for his second
children's book, Kupchella said "Tell Me What We Did Today" started when
he wondered whether there was a way to celebrate the everyday moments of a
child's life. "It's a bedtime ritual children's book," he said. "My wife
[Leslie] and I felt that it was a great thing to do with our kids." Because
dads sometimes have unusual ways of relating to their kids through teasing,
part of this book comes from Kupchella's parenting style with Caroline, 7,
and Elizabeth, 4. Whenever he would ask his girls to recap their day, he
would always get them going by saying "obviously insane things" that never
happened, he said. When the dad in the book says these crazy things, the
kid's response - No, this never happened - is designed to get to child to
recap the day in her own words and set Dad straight on what really happened.
The book is "32 pages of whimsy," Kupchella said. He's especially tickled
that the verse is illustrated by Warren Hanson, of "A Cup of Christmas
Tea" fame. The book comes out in mid-August.
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