Lauren La Riva

author and illustrator of "Guardian"

December 9, 2016

Lauren La Riva is a graduate student working toward her master's degree in mental health counseling at Oklahoma State University. She will be graduating in Summer of 2017. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in Spanish. She currently works in the Edmon Low Library as a graduate teaching assistant. She is a counseling intern at Connecting the Pieces, LLC. She has begun co-authoring a children's book series with her mom, and she illustrates their books. They have self-published their first book, "Guardian," and have written several more books that are not yet print-ready. Their series is about the mischievous antics of Lauren's Bengal cat, Milo. Their books use challenging vocabulary words with the aim of expanding the vocabularies of young children; each book has a vocabulary section in the back with easy-to-understand definitions of the words. She hopes that the books and illustrations will foster a love of reading in children.

"Guardian" is the first of many Milo stories, written based on the true antics of Lauren's bengal cat, Milo. This is a bedtime poem filled with vocabulary words and dream-like illustrations, inspired out of love and appreciation for a very special companion. Lauren hopes you and your child enjoy Milo as much as she does.

Note to Parents:

This book is intended to be read aloud to your child, with the hope that exposure to a rich vocabulary and colorful illustrations will instill a lifelong love of reading. Looking up unfamiliar words with your child can build an expansive vocabulary that will aid them throughout their lives. There is a Vocabulary section at the end of the book with easy-to-understand (at any age) definitions for advanced vocabulary words. Children who are read to regularly tend to have larger vocabularies and read more later in life. By teaching children a broad variety of words early in life, they can become eloquent speakers and high-achieving readers.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2017-honorees-b/lauren-la-riva

Last Updated: 10 February 2017