The pen is mightier than the storm
Greene County woman explains science of thunder in children\\\'s book
A Mount Morris woman wants to help children set aside a fear of storms.
“The Adventures of Charlie: Thunder,” written by Natalie Eddy, takes children on a journey through Mason-Dixon Historical Park with Charlie and his new friend, a bird named McDoogle. As they walk through the park, McDoogle teaches third-grader Charlie about what causes thunder and lightning, and why nature needs storms.
Eddy said the goal of the book was to break down the science behind storms in a simple, but accurate way.
Writing a children’s book was “something on my bucket list,” said Eddy, a retired public relations specialist at West Virginia University.
Also a former newspaper reporter and magazine contributor, Eddy didn’t find the writing part of the process especially difficult, but said getting the idea for Charlie’s first adventure was a bit of a challenge. So, like many writers, Eddy drew inspiration from her own life – and the lives of her two sons.
“When they were younger, they were both afraid of thunder,” she said, “I just remember talking to them, thinking it would be great if I had some sort of book they could relate to … to help make it less scary for them.”
Finding the time to write, even after retirement, was also a challenge. She babysits the “apple of my eye,” her grandson – and the namesake of the main character – 18-month-old Charlie.
It was the toddler’s mom, Natalie’s daughter-in-law, Heather Eddy, who brought the 31-page paperback to life.
Heather Eddy said she ran photos taken at the real Mason-Dixon Historical Park through an AI program that transformed them into cartoon-type pictures. The program also helped to create the characters and allowed her to tweak how they looked, perfectly encapsulating how Natalie envisioned Charlie and McDoogle.
A template for the book came from Etsy, and Heather used Canva to lay everything out.
While the process “took a fair amount of time, it wasn’t super difficult,” Heather said.
Though Natalie Eddy wrote the book for children ages 4 to 12, Charlie has been entertained by the book “quite a few times” already, according to his mom.
And, there could be a few more to entertain him. Eddy said she has plans for a series of “The Adventures of Charlie” books, with the second tentatively slated for release later this year.
Until then, she hopes this book will help children understand what’s happening in the sky during a thunderstorm.
“I think when kids understand the science, it will make it a lot less scary for them,” Eddy said.
“The Adventures of Charlie: Thunder” is available for purchase on Amazon.