Santa Ana High School’s very own AP World History teacher Joe Penaflor recently released a book called Emma and The Wonders of Mesopotamia.
Inspiration was sparked due to “being a teacher of world history. I wanted to create something for younger readers to learns about history but also have fun at the same time and the second motivation was for nostalgia due to remembering my parents reading with me and telling stories, especially my dad liking history and mythology and tell me stories about historical figures and wanted to create that so other people kinda have that feeling,” Penaflor said.
He recommends people to read it, because “Well, I think you can have a shared experience reading with a younger brother or sister or parent. Those are really great life-long memories and also a sharing of adventure, and history. May spark a young leader to be interested in a life long learning process, not just history but anything that can read and learn something while they are doing it.”
This book is “dedicated to my parents. They were the ones who would sit and read with me. Especially my mom who I remember sitting and reading with me and my dad always wanted to share history stories of things he read about. When I was growing up I remember the little stories he would tell.”
Penaflor talks about his struggles with writing this book. “Yeah I wanted to kinda strike a balance between making it knowledgeable, but also kinda adventurous. Plus I had to gear it to younger readers. I went through several revisions, like one revision was completely tossed aside so it took a little while for me to figure out if I got that balance and still wasn’t quite sure but decided it was good and to see how it does.”
The book is available for purchase on lulu.com.
