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Featured Writer

RIFSoCal would like to present Alva Sachs, award winning children’s author, as our featured writer of the month. Alva donated her books, Circus Fever and On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! to the Boggle for Books fundraiser on May 8, 2010. RIFSoCal subsequently purchased the beautifully written and illustrated books for distribution to RIFSoCal Kids.

From the moment, Alva walked into RIFSoCal’s headquarters, we were immediately charmed. Her extensive knowledge and love of children’s literature and illustration sparked a lengthy conversation. Alva’s books and her style were a perfect fit for us as she is the embodiment of the RIFSoCal mission “To promote literacy and motivate children to read by building at-home libraries for underserved children in Greater Los Angeles.” Her books manifest the “fun” in “fundamental” and capture the enthusiasm and optimism of childhood.

Both of Alva’s books are written with a child’s world in mind. In Circus Fever, she taps into a child’s imagination and love of role playing. Circus Fever is a lovely, kid-friendly book. Patricia Krebs’ illustrations are perfect, full of color, whimsy, and excitement. This author/illustrator team really captures the ambiance of the circus and a little girl’s desire to be part of it. 

The second book, On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! features a multicultural trio of friends who are bored and need some motivation other than creating and eating sandwiches. Justin’s dad suggests they refurbish their less than perfect skateboards and go to the park for a race. Now, anyone who has ever known 9 year old boys will tell you that this is the penultimate Saturday afternoon. Work in the garage, fix things, have fun with their dads, and then go out for ice cream. 

Both of these books are written to delight children and to stimulate their imaginations. Bravo, Alva! We look forward to your next books.

Alva’s background includes a childhood in the Chicago area, a bachelor in science degree from the University of Illinois, followed by 16 years as an elementary school teacher and a Master’s Degree in Education from Northern Illinois University.

If there is a word which Alva uses to describe her life, it is “serendipity” as explained in the following quote: “I hope that “serendipity” comes your way. It is that breath of fresh air that knocks you off your feet, catches you off guard, puts a smile on your face and lets you know, that you never really do know what IS around the corner!”