Alex Record, a Spring Hill native and a five-year teacher veteran who currently works as an ESE teacher at Powell Middle School, is set to release his first children’s book titled Bats Aren’t Birds – An ABC Book of Animal Misconceptions.
Mr. Record is a life-long resident of Hernando County who graduated from Springstead High School in 2006 and is a Central Florida University graduate. When he’s not teaching or working on his book, he greatly enjoys his downtime by spending time with his family, reading, and traveling.
This is Mr. Record’s first published book and he credits his inspiration to his fiancé, Holly, her two sons, his daughter, and his students. One student in particular, Mr. Record noted, “had misconceptions about animals and made me wonder if there is a book about animal misconceptions and so I looked it up and there wasn’t.” In response to his discovery, Mr. Record thought, “Well, I’ll just make it.”
The entire book-making process took Mr. Record approximately an entire year – finding time to work on both the text and illustrations at night and on the weekends when he wasn’t teaching. “The illustrations I did myself, and was definitely the most challenging part,” Mr. Record confessed, “I found the pictures online and very painstakingly painted over them with my tablet.”
The road to publishing a book was not a cake walk. Mr. Record researched the entire publishing process online. He had hopes to find a local publisher or a company that is Florida-based, only to find rejection. “Many publishers weren’t in the market for an ABC book, so some wouldn’t even look at it,” Mr. Record stated. He ultimately went with PublishingRoom.com, where he credits Melody with all her support, patience, and guidance with the publishing process.
Rejection can be a stumbling block for a budding author, so when asked about how he motivated himself to reach his publishing goal Mr. Record said, “If you really believe in your book and if you really believe your book is a good idea, it’s not difficult to keep trying.”
Bats Aren’t Birds – An ABC Book of Animal Misconceptions is an excellent piece of nonfiction that is fit for primary grade classrooms filled with facts suitable for all ages. Each page lists a different animal or species, many which are well-known to all readers, that are beautifully illustrated. In addition, the common misconceptions are counter-balanced with simply stated and accurate facts that are sure to catch the interest of both the novice and experienced reader. For inquiring minds, resources about each animal are listed in the back of the book.
Mr. Record’s paper-back book will be available for purchase on Amazon on September 8th for $13.89.
