Gary the Gator
by
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Dear Readers,
This children's book was part of my rehab efforts after I suffered a closed head injury. I was admitted to Savannah Teaching Hospital in late November, 2003. I was unconcious and did not awaken until after the birth of my fourth grandchild, Riley. I did not know where I was, who I was or why I was in a hospital bed.
It took nearly a year to meet my family, relearn how to do simple tasks like speaking, reading and everything that I had taken for granted. Baby Riley was special during this process, we learned many things together. He never expected anything from his "Mamma" and his Mamma came to love him as I watched him grow. He is ready to start school now and he loves to read his books from preschool classes.
This book is for you, Riley, and all others who love to read.
Sincerely,
ConnieRyan (Mamma)
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About the Book
Gary the Gator was born in 1998 on a golf course. He was about a foot long the first time I saw him. Fripp Island has two golf courses and Gary lived on Ocean Point. There were ponds everywhere and drainage ditches that carried water and connected them. Gary used to like to spend some of his time in the drainage ditch near our winter home, Sandown Villas, Number 141. Whenever we walked or rode our bicycles, we would stop and look for him. Before too long he would appear, just his nose and eyes at first. When the sun was out at noon, Gary would crawl out of the ditch and sun himself away from other larger alligators or golfers.
Before long, we started to make up stories about what a foot long baby alligator did all day. What did he eat? How did he catch it? This story book for our youngest grandchild is the result.
About the Author
Connie Ryan is a retired elementary school teacher from Pickens, South Carolina. She received her BA Degree from The State College of Iowa and her MS from the University of Nebraska. In her teaching career, she was a member of the "Breadloaf " Published Group of Clemson University. She was an Assistant Professor of Elementary Reading at Wesleyan College in Central, South Carolina. She has been a frequent invited lecturer in the University of Maine Fall Seminars for Distance Learning, held in Augusta, Maine. She is an avid reader and grandmother to four active grandsons. She has traveled to forty-eight countries on four continents. This is her first attempt at a children's story book.