Wintersville author shares her passion for picture books at story hour
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STEUBENVILLE -- An author from Wintersville shared her love of picture books during a story hour at Bookmarx Bookstore, regaling children with two of her own stories and another two of her favorites Saturday.
Surrounded by a room full of children and their guardians, Maura Roan McKeegan read from two of her own books, "In This Catholic Church" and "Where is Jesus Hidden?" In addition, she read two stories from the "Frog and Toad" picture book series.
George Sirilla, 7, said he enjoyed the story hour, and he was joined there by his siblings Leo, Hope, Aletheia, Charity and Dominic and his mother, Laura Sirilla. George Sirilla said his favorite book of the event was "Where is Jesus Hidden?" in which children are guided to find Jesus through scriptural clues.
George Sirilla said of that book, "I liked how it was a fun activity book but at the same time good and pure."
A brief Q&A session followed the story hour, during which Bookmarx owner John Kuhner noted the theological nature of McKeegan's own stories.
"They're kids' books, but they have big ideas about religion," Kuhner said. "It's unusual. ... It makes it stand out."
Although she has read to plenty of children before, McKeegan said before the story hour, this is the first time she has publicly read from her own books at a bookstore event.
McKeegan is the author of 12 picture books for children, including one co-authored with Scott Hahn, a Catholic theologian and professor at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. McKeegan's works have been published through Catholic publishing companies like Emmaus Road Publishing, Loyola Press, Our Sunday Visitor and Ignatius Press and Magnificat.
She has also written articles for adults on online magazines including Catholic Digest, Guideposts and various others. McKeegan said her usual article topics cover her religion but reflect also on children's literature and writing.
"I have a great passion for children's literature, for picture books, in particular," McKeegan said. "I love reading them, I love exploring them, I love reading them with children. It's like my favorite thing to do in the whole world.
"I write the text," said McKeegan, regarding her own children's books. "I have several different illustrators that I've worked with. Every one of them is a gem -- they all amaze me."
Working as a teacher from 1996 to 2001, McKeegan developed a passion for literature. Her last two years of teaching saw her primarily covering reading and English, and she said her love for children's books has been a defining element of her adult life.
McKeegan recalled a time when she was an elementary education major studying at a college in Baltimore. She had a professor who would begin each class by reading aloud to the class from picture books. The roomful of college students would become greatly invested, McKeegan said, which made her realize how picture books can "reach people of all ages because of their childlike simplicity."
"We carry childhood in our hearts," McKeegan said. "When we connect with picture books, it's a way to connect with our own childhood, it's a way to connect with children in our lives ... and bridge the gap between generations.
"That's really a driving philosophy for me: The way that picture books bring people together. I don't really think of picture books as being only for young children. I see them as being for children but also for adults because they unite us."
McKeegan said that when she reads picture books with children, "the rest of the world fades away. Picture books can tackle real-world issues in a beautiful way, helping readers to witness the world in a childlike way -- something Jesus calls people to do in the gospel," McKeegan said.
The writing spark first hit McKeegan in first grade, she said, when she would write rudimentary yet earnest stories. Encouragement enthusiasm from a teacher is what made her want to keep writing.
Growing up, McKeegan kept writing in journals, but she only ever thought of herself as a teacher, never thinking she would write professionally. Eventually, McKeegan began writing for magazines in her 20s and began to fall into the profession, dreaming of writing picture books one day.
It was 10 years after McKeegan conceived of her first picture book idea that her first book was published in 2014. McKeegan's first book, "The End of the Fiery Sword: Adam & Eve and Jesus & Mary," earned her a Catholic Press Award from the Catholic Media Association. She earned another four awards for "Seven Clues: A Catholic Treasure Hunt," co-authored with Hahn.
"It was more like a call that I felt God put on my heart than anything else," McKeegan said, "and, with every project that came, I just felt like he was asking me to write. I love what Mother Teresa said, 'I'm just a pencil in God's hands,' and that's how I felt about my writing. I'm trying to just write what he's asking me to write."
McKeegan grew up and taught in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., in Maryland. She had attended several of Franciscan University's conferences, she said, and she loved them so much that she thought, "If three weekends changed my life this much, what would it be like to come and study here for three years?"
McKeegan stopped teaching to take masters classes in theology at Franciscan. She never finished the program, but she did get married halfway through and began living in Steubenville. She and her family recently moved to Wintersville after living in Steubenville for 20 years.
"Just living here, I continued to get the formation that I came her for to begin with," McKeegan said. "It was more about learning than it ever was about the degree itself."
A full-time homeschooling mom of four, the oldest attending Franciscan and the youngest being 8years old, McKeegan said she writes on the side when she is able. This is the first time in more than a decade that McKeegan has not been working actively on a project, although she is open to what comes next. Right now, McKeegan is just absorbing life for some more inspiration.