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Just Because Author Amber J Housey Interview

Just Because Author Amber J Housey Interview – interview with Amber Housey, author of the children’s book Just Because and lifelong Michigan resident.

Amber Housey is a local Michigan author with an Education background and a husband who has started a local charity. She has written Just Because, a book about the value of sharing, taking action to help those in need, and seeing another person’s point of view. Amber has creatively written about a valuable life lesson for children to understand. I interviewed Amber about Just Because to learn more about how she came to write this wonderful children’s book.

Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – How long have you lived in Michigan?

Just Because Author Amber J Housey – I was born in Detroit and lived in Detroit for a few years. In first grade we moved to Berkley where parents still live in the same house. I live in Troy now with my husband and three kids (and two cockapoo dogs, Mango and Hershey).

Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – You taught preschool in Huntington Woods and then first and second grades in Berkley. Are you still teaching? Are you a full time author?

Just Because Author Amber J Housey – I was known as “Miss” Amber in Huntington Woods where I started my teaching career as a preschool teacher. I graduated from Oakland University with my teaching certificate and began teaching at Rogers Elementary as a first and second grade teacher in Berkley. While teaching, I received my Masters in the Art of Teaching.  After my son was born, I retired from teaching. I am now a full-time mom and an author on the side. It seems that my kids won’t have it any other way. I write while they are at school. That is, if I am not volunteering at their school.

Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – I love the message in your book. It’s an important message, and you’ve conveyed it inspirationally. Can you tell us more about it and what was behind your inspiration for this book?

Just Because Author Amber J Housey –Two things inspired Flip Side Stories® (FSS) and Just Because. I wanted to teach my students how to see another point of view so they could appreciate the feelings of others. The first FSS story was about a substitute teacher. I wanted my students to understand how hard it is to come into a classroom of strangers and teach lessons they have never seen before. I also wanted to teach them how they should treat a guest in our classroom. So, I wrote the story, A Day Without Ms. Hatting. It shows two points of view. One side of a child and the flip side of a guest teacher as they see the day from each point of view. When I read it to my students, I saw a lightbulb go off in their heads. They attitudes changed toward  guests in our classroom. I knew I had something. I had a way to teach kids about having empathy for others by teaching them to walk in someone else’s shoes. Just Because, a story about two families on either side of charity, was inspired by my work with a charity my husband founded called Building Bridges that supports children and their families in Southwest Michigan.

Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Is “Just Because” your first book? There are some images in the back of the book that are related to “future Flip Side Stories”… can you tell us more about those?

Just Because Author Amber J Housey – Just Because is my first book. It has won three awards. It is very exciting. It is the first in the Flip Side Stories® (FSS) series. All of the books follow the same format sharing two points of view of the same situation. They are all familiar situations to children such as finding a toy and losing a toy, treatment of animals, letters to a soldier, meeting a homeless man and more. They all encourage children to have empathy and compassion for others and hopefully inspires them to be action-takers no matter how big or small. I have written at least 6 stories and I have many more in progress. My hope is to publish the entire series and continue write more FSS stories. The ideas are endless. I would like to add some fun ones in too like a story about Santa and one about the Tooth Fairy.

I have a website at www.theflipsidestories.com where you can find more information about me and Flip Side Stories®. Kids can also learn what it means to be a “Flipsider” and join the Flipsiders by signing their name in the Flip Side Name Garden. There is an interactive book on there as well as other fun activities for kids.

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