Mason Cityan writes book about pre-schoolers

MASON CITY -- Several children are at the clay table talking about Christmas trees.

"The garbage man took our tree," David says. "He took it to Santa Claus."

That's just one of the many anecdotes in "Just Hang Loose: A View of the World Through the Eyes of Pre-Schoolers," a book recently published by Averil Merritt of Mason City.

Merritt said she decided to write the book because "I've had these good little stories" collected over her many years in early childhood education, including River City Pre-School, which was located at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mason City for 16 years.

The stories are all about the silly, wise or just plain cute things the little ones said or did.

"Very early in my teaching career, I started jotting down notes as I observed the children in my classroom," she wrote in the introduction to the book. "The purpose was mostly for parent-teacher conferences, but I felt a little like a field scientist observing and learning about the behavior of preschoolers."

She was able to turn the stacks of notes into a book with help from Eric Mott, who was a student in one of her first River City Pre-School classes, and his wife, Kelly Jo Eldredge.

The couple, who live in Denver, were co-authors in the development of "Just Hang Loose."

Mott and Eldredge were in Mason City two years ago for a book signing for "We Met At Starbucks," which they wrote about their experiences in online dating which eventually led to their meeting each other.

Merritt went to the book signing and later sent the couple her preschool stories because she was having trouble organizing them into a book.Each chapter of the finished book has a theme. The chapter "A Storm in Heaven" is about the children's drawings and paintings, and what they had to say about them. "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Crime Doesn't Pay" is a chapter full of stories about the preschoolers getting into mischief. Merritt, a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School, received her degree in child development from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). She directed the Civic League Day Care Center in Rochester, Minn., and was founder of Perry Creek Nursery School in Sioux City, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary.