{"id":57222,"date":"2015-05-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-graduate-shows-some-love-writing-childrens-book-about-ocean-state\/"},"modified":"2015-05-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T00:00:00","slug":"uri-graduate-shows-some-love-writing-childrens-book-about-ocean-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/05\/uri-graduate-shows-some-love-writing-childrens-book-about-ocean-state\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 graduate shows some love writing children\u2019s book about Ocean State"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tJill Austin\u2019s \u201cRI Loves\u201d is alphabet book for preschoolers<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 21, 2015 \u2013 If H is for Hope and I is for the Independent Man and R is for Rocky Point, then one thing is certain: We are not in Kansas.<\/p>\n


\nWe\u2019re in Rhode Island, flipping through the pages of Jill Austin\u2019s \u201cRI Loves: Showing Love for the Ocean State from A to Z,\u201d an alphabet book about the places and things that make our state unique \u2013 and a bit quirky.<\/p>\n


\nHere\u2019s a sampling: B is for baseball (as in PawSox); L is for Lemonade (as in Del\u2019s); P is for Providence (as in the Capital City); and K is for Knowledge, which includes a shout-out to Austin\u2019s alma mater, the 溏心vlog免费B站, where she cut her teeth in writing and communications.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m so happy about the book\u2019s success,\u201d says Austin, 35, of North Providence, who also did the illustrations. \u201cThe feedback has been tremendous and has encouraged me to start working on other Rhode Island-themed children\u2019s books.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAustin grew up in Smithfield, where she excelled in writing at Smithfield High School. At 溏心vlog免费B站, she started out as an English major, but switched to communications her sophomore year, graduating in 2001.<\/p>\n


\nShe honed her writing and public speaking skills in college and was also a member of the Student Entertainment Committee, organizing events and activities on campus.<\/p>\n


\nIt was at 溏心vlog免费B站 where Jill Manni met her husband, Patrick Austin, also a 2001 graduate and communications major. \u201cWe first laid eyes on each other in Peck Hall,\u201d she says. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t connect until a few months later.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThey were friends for more than a year before going on their first date on St. Patrick\u2019s Day, March 17, 1999: Mystic Aquarium to gaze at sea lions; a picnic lunch in his car; a stroll through Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI could see our friendship turning into more,\u201d she says. \u201cIt made me very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe two married in 2005, and, in 2012, Austin decided to leave her job as a special events coordinator at the zoo \u2013 the same one where they had their first date \u2013 to stay home with her daughter, Gwen, who will turn 4 in July. Her other daughter, Hannah, was born in March.<\/p>\n


\nHer inspiration for the book? Gwen, a reading machine. A mother\u2019s love being what it is, Austin decided to try writing a book just for the toddler. Using Adobe Illustrator, she created \u201cRI Loves\u201d and figured she was done with it.<\/p>\n


\nHer husband thought otherwise. He knew the book was good enough to self-publish. They found a printing company and ordered 500 books, which sold out in four months. In March, they ordered 1,000 more copies.<\/p>\n


\nWriting the book took her on a journey back to her childhood, spending summers on the beach in East Matunuck, riding the Rock & Roll Express at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, riding the historic Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill and devouring chocolate glazed doughnuts at Allie\u2019s in North Kingstown.<\/p>\n


\nSome of her ABC favorites:<\/p>\n


\nF is for Farms like Jaswell\u2019s in Smithfield, where Austin and her brother picked apples and where she takes her family now.<\/p>\n


\nG is for Gates surrounding the Newport mansions that Austin visited as a kid and where in one, The Breakers, her husband proposed.<\/p>\n


\nM is for Milk, which Austin\u2019s parents rushed to buy at the store before a major snowstorm, like all responsible Rhode Islanders.<\/p>\n


\nN is for Nibbles Woodaway \u2013 a.k.a., the Big Blue Bug that looms over I-95.<\/p>\n


\nS is for Soda, specifically, Yacht Club pop that Austin and her friends happily gulped during summer barbecues.<\/p>\n


\nU is for Unforgettable memories of the Scituate Art Festival, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade and the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at the zoo.<\/p>\n


\n\tW is for Weather, a hot topic in the state, with residents complaining of sweltering summers and bitterly cold winters, but still insisting, \u201cThere\u2019s no place that we\u2019d rather be.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nY is for You \u2013 all children in Rhode Island, including Gwen, charmingly depicted in the book as a red-haired youngster sporting her favorite winter hat, earflaps and all. \u201cRI really loves YOU!\u201d Austin writes. \u201cNo matter where you roam. This little state holds a lot of love and will always be your home.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nToddlers are keen on the book, as well as grown-ups living out of state and feeling nostalgic for Little Rhody.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cRI Loves\u201d is $16 and available online and at local bookstores. To buy a copy online, visit www.pvdparents.com. Books are at Barnes & Noble in Warwick, Barrington Books, Books on the Square in Providence, Curiosity and Mischief in Narragansett and Island Books in Middletown, among others.<\/p>\n


\nAustin is thinking about writing a companion book to \u201cRI Loves\u201d since there are more \u201camazingly unique\u201d places and people in Rhode Island. She is also working on a book about the Rho Dyelinn accent, as in, \u201cWhere\u2019s the bubbla? I\u2019m wicked thirsty.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWhat started as a fun, creative project for a stay-at-home mom has turned into a dream come true,\u201d Austin says. \u201cTo be called an author is, for me, a tremendous accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPictured above: Jill and Patrick Austin, and their children, Gwen, 3, and Hannah, 2 months. Jill is the author of \u201cRI Loves: Showing Love for the Ocean State from A to Z.\u201d Patrick is digital media director of Cumulus Media. Photo courtesy of Jill Austin. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jill Austin\u2019s \u201cRI Loves\u201d is alphabet book for preschoolers KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 21, 2015 \u2013 If H is for Hope and I is for the Independent Man and R is for Rocky Point, then one thing is certain: We are not in Kansas. We\u2019re in Rhode Island, flipping through the pages of Jill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}