Winston-Salem from A to Z
By Nicole Witten, Brenner Children’s Hospital Office of Development, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
This year there’s an exciting new gift idea for Winston-Salem area families, and it’s one where the shopping helps a great cause! Brenner Children’s Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in partnership with Books by Kids Foundation, has published a children’s book about the city of Winston-Salem.
The colorful illustrations are creations by Brenner patients, and the book’s author is a local student. All net proceeds will benefit Brenner Children’s Hospital.
This spring, Brenner launched an author’s competition among local middle schools and homeschooled students. Forsyth students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades were invited to enter the Brenner Children’s Hospital Young Authors Contest.
Participants were asked to write their own versions of Winston-Salem from A to Z, an original story incorporating historical figures, landmarks and characteristics—one item for each letter of the alphabet. A panel of judges chose the winning author.
Current and former patients from Brenner Children’s Hospital illustrated the book with coordination by the staff of the Child Life department and Arts for Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting patients facing serious illnesses. The book project was a perfect fit with the Arts for Life mission of providing educational art programs and positive health care experiences for children and their families. Final design and publishing of the book was by Books by Kids.
The name of the winning author will be revealed at the Winston-Salem from A to Z book launch at Brenner Children’s Festival of Trees on November 17, where writing finalists, judges, sponsors and illustrators will be recognized as well.
The November 17 event will be the first opportunity for the community to purchase the book, which will be sold throughout the entire Festival weekend. Each book will be sold for $20 and all net proceeds of book sales will benefit Brenner Children’s Hospital. The winning author will be available to sign copies of the book during the book launch event at Festival of Trees.
Festival of Trees takes place Saturday, November 17 from 9am – 6pm and Sunday, November 18 from Noon – 5pm at the Education Building on the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. The book will also be available for sale through the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Office of Development and through several businesses throughout the Winston-Salem area, and online on the Books by Kids website.
This beautiful book will be a fun and interesting Christmas gift and keepsake for all ages! It’s a unique idea for baby showers and new residents to the Winston-Salem area. As a creative project written and illustrated by children for children about historical figures, places and the history of Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem from A to Z will be a treasure for many years to come.
Young readers will enjoy the rhyming story and colorful illustrations while older readers will have fun learning about the city. All readers will enjoy exploring through the eyes of local children and learning about all the things that give Winston-Salem its unique character.
To order a Winston-Salem from A to Z book, please contact the Office of Development at 336.716.7985 or email Nicole Witten at nwitten@wakehealth.edu.
Sponsored by Wake Health
