Christina's Books help ease reading problems - (Full text for Easier Reading follows)

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BANANA Books, published by Turkey Tracks Press, are helping people of all ages throughout Queensland to overcome reading disabilities.

The books, written by retired school teacher Mrs Christina Alexander, Liscannor stud, Brookfield, are aimed at people suffering from dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a processing problem. A person with a perfect sequential memory is all right. However, in some people a memory sense is out, such as the visual sequential memory, and this causes the person to copy things wrongly.

They see horse as house, 12 as 21, or was as saw.

Mrs Alexander has written a series of books with titles such as Lurking in Murky Creek, Flash Frank's Fishy Friends, Flowery Cow Stewpots and Wheely Will's Wheels Have Solid Cement Whiskers.

The books, illustrated by New South Wales Artist Ian Otterly, are as humorous and outrageous as their titles, brand name and publishing company's name.

Dedicated to the cause, Mrs Alexander first became aware of the problem as a young girl. "I lived on a farm in New Zealand and my mother was always too busy to help the children with their homework so I had to do it.

"My brothers were bright but no matter how hard I tried I could not teach them to read. They were Dyslexic.

"Then one of my own children was diagnosed as dyslexic, but not treated."

A qualified primary and high school teacher, Christina has also studied special education.

After teaching students with learning disabilities in a school situation, Mrs Alexander decided to give it away and do it on a one-to-one basis.

"I don't think school is the place for children to be given remedial coaching. Half the time they are having remedial lessons while the others are doing reading or English. They miss out on the tools of literacy and are handicapped further.

"I trudged around the bookshops trying to find information but most books were dull and an insult to the child's intelligence. Recording tapes were from America and the children couldn't relate to them."

"I finally decided to write my own material when a little boy came to me after he had been tested for dyslexia. He was bright and had a brilliant sense of humour despite his bad spelling and bad handwriting.

"As soon as I produced the remedial books, his face dropped - he was bored. Yet he didn't dislike reading for he had read Charlotte's Web several times.

"So I decided to analyse it and see what was in it. I realised if I was to crack this one I had to produce my own material. And the material had to be humorous as well as including closely related words such as song/gong, or house/mouse/grouse."

So her first story, The Untidy House of Katie Kleen, was born. "I didn't realise I could be humorous until I tried," Christina said.

She also refuses to pander to the children, claiming she throws them in the deep end.

You won't find too many Baa Baa Black Sheep type phrases in her stories. You are more likely to come across phrases such as "photographic paraphernalia."

"One is no harder than the other when phonics are used," said Christina. "Many of my children are victims of the look and say method of teaching. Thank heavens we are gradually returning to phonics, but it is still being taught in a boring fashion."

When Christine started writing her own material, she had no thoughts about publishing books.

"I insist on parent participation with my students, she said, "and it was after pressure from the parents that I began to look into putting together the Banana Books."

She approached several publishers who were willing to undertake the job but not as Christina wanted.

"They wanted to mass produce cheap quality books and put them on shelves in supermarkets, which wasn't what I wanted at all," she said.

Christina overcame these 'minor' problems by publishing the books herself with the help of a friend who was a printer.

The books are printed on top quality, banana coloured paper of tabloid size. The illustrations by Ian Ottley are of collectors' quality.

Country people will relate easily to Christina's work because many of her subjects are about the country. This is probably only natural when Christina explains that most of her ideas come to her when she was working on her pony and Arab stud.

Christina said about 25 percent of Australians suffer from some form of dyslexia. "It may be only a mild case but they are still putting more energy into reading than necessary."

Christina has 16 students, the oldest 19 years, plus a long waiting list. "At least I now have the books to give them while they wait," she said. They are designed as a do-it-yourself kit.

She said it was important that reading disabilities were diagnosed and treated early.

"I think this would help fix up some of the delinquincy in society. If it is not recognised by the time the child reaches Year nine, he generally becomes the class clown or rebel.

"The gap just gets wider and wider - some will get through high school and others will drop out," Christina said.

Those who get through rely heavily on help from others or from films, Christina said.

She said a problem in schools was that teachers failed to recognise the problem. "This is due to lack of training in special education at teacher's college," she said. Often teachers tell parents 'Your child is bright, just bone lazy' or 'Your child is average but you are just an ambitious mother."

If this is happening to your children Christina urges you to have them tested.

Anyone interested in the Banana Books should contact Christina Alexander, Turkey Tracks Press, PO Box 134, Kenmore, 4069, Qld.

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