Dr. Beth Brown, Adventures with Divot and Swish

Happy 2022 from The Okie Bookcast! There is so much great stuff coming in the days ahead! If you haven't heard the New Year's Resolutions interlude, I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to check out the big goals for 2022 and how you can be a part of them.

One of those goals is launching the Read Oklahoma Challenge. I'm encouraging everyone to read one Oklahoma-connected book a month through 2022. There are new categories each month and I'll provide some recommendations along the way. For January, we're reading any work by Oklahoma great, S.E. Hinton. You can find a list of her books here.

For more on the Challenge and to sign up to let us know you're in, visit the Read Oklahoma Challenge web page.

Dr. Beth Brown is my guest for this chapter. Beth is a life-long educator who says she is on a mission to inspire families and kids to have fun, become more active and learn life skills through sports in her children’s book series “Adventures with Divot & Swish.” She was a college athlete at the University of Oklahoma and holds a Ph.D. in sports psychology from the University of Kansas. Since finishing her degree, she’s gone on to impact thousands through her roles as a golf coach, an educational program developer at First Tee and LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, and the founder of the coaching and consulting agency, Team Aureus.

Beth's latest book - Adventures with Divot and Swish in the Ozark Mountains: The Superpower of Confidence - is releasing in January and can be found at her website or at several of the OK Indie Bookstores (see below). In addition to her books, Beth has created resources for educators to use the books in the classroom, and those are also available from her website. Beyond her site, you can connect with Beth on Instagram and Facebook (@adventureswithdivotandswish).

Beth and I talk about her books, the importance of helping kids develop superpowers like confidence and courage, her work with children in a variety of spaces, and how her experiences in sports have shaped the stories she tells. You're going to love hearing from Beth.

For our review this episode, M. Jane Hawkins reviews three books from award-winning Oklahoma children's author Tammi Sauer - Nugget and Fang, Wordy Birdie, and Not Now, Cow. Jane is a former educator and editor who has worked with kids in a variety of capacities. Her books - A Truck Named Tony and Tony the Truck and the Christmas Delivery are available from her website - janehawkins.net.