For months, Linda Wheeler-Wood has been hard at work writing a four-book children’s series focusing on the historical events and backdrop of Trigg County.
The purpose: to enhance a traveling, hands-on play and learning historical exhibit from the Trigg County Historical Society and through the John L. Street Library, the Trigg County Elementary School and some local child care centers.
Wednesday morning and alongside Trigg County Historical Society President Bob Brame, Wood presented the first printed set of these books to Librarian Pam Metts.
The four books — “WC and the Cadiz Railroad,” “Pioneer Life in Kentucky,” “Morning Glories and Golden Pond,” and “Living on a Farm In Trigg County Kentucky” — take a simple, easy-to-understand approach in addressing early learning concepts.
Wood said the jumpstart to the journey came from she and Brame discussing the pursuit of a $48,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services — which would be used to both create the traveling exhibit and print more copies of the books.
Brame said the idea is to make the museum’s mission of education and awareness more mobile — especially for youth. Should the grant be approved, a wooden hands-on experience with log cabins, animals, plants, vegetables, bridges and more would run through the library, the school and day cares.
A longtime volunteer for the Historical Society, Wood is a native of upstate New York who spent more than 30 years working in child and youth programs at various military installations.
Following retirement in Fort Knox, Wood — who’s also taught at both the University of Louisville and Campbellsville University — opted to stay in the Commonwealth, and has since turned her attention to Trigg County’s rich history.
Local research led her to writing about these four topics, and she noted that a children’s book focusing on Trigg County sports icons might be in the future.
Brame said Wood’s recent ideas have only been a boon to the organization.
During the John L. Street Library’s beloved “Storytime,” Children’s Librarian Katie Moore read “Morning Glories and Golden Pond” to the kids. It’s loosely based on the childhood recollections of Joann Wallace Harvey.
A first run of the books was purchased by the Historical Society and furnished by Southern Printing in Hopkinsville. Wood said they’re available for purchase at the Historical Society, at the Cadiz-Trigg County Tourism Office or at Studio 17 for $7 per book, or $25 per set.
Children’s Librarian Katie Moore:
