The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Darla O'Rourke doesn't write children's books just to entertain her young readers. She also wants to have a positive influence on their developing lives. That much was evident as O'Rourke recently visited the Flin Flon Public Library to share some of her work with visiting students. 'We can better prepare our children by helping them understand what they need,' she says, 'and so they understand their own behaviours or (those of) others around them to make better choices.' That's a theme in O'Rourke's Darlin' Series of storybooks aimed at children ages five to 12. O'Rourke, a teacher who writes under the name Lil Irish, has penned the first three books in the series: The Gift, !goT wuteveR iT iZ and !mY imaginatioN worlD. The second book became the first to be published, and O'Rourke hopes to have the other books at the printers this month. She envisions the series eventually including seven or eight books and being used by teachers in their classroom instruction. 'What'll push the bank is a few bulk orders for the masses and we don't know yet if it'll be McNally (Robinson book chain) in the creative industry to do this or Manitoba school divisions,' she says, 'but it's sure going to be wonderful to move forward.' O'Rourke, who lives in southern Manitoba, said she had a very positive experience at the library and looks forward to returning to Flin Flon.
