Gloria van Donge is a mother of a gifted child, but she only discovered this in her retirement! She recalls that at the age of 3 her daughter would recite story books on long car trips. All it took was the first sentence, “Once upon a time” and the words would tumble out. There was no stopping until “they lived happily ever after”.

As she grew, her daughter’s level of empathy for her classmates often resulted in lengthy discussions, after school. She was a rapid learner. She processed information very quickly. Her inquisitive mind often asked more and more questions, often about deep subject matter. She was a flexible thinker and creative problem-solver. Gloria didn’t make the connection.

It wasn’t until after her daughter became an educator and worked with schools to provide quality Gifted Education across Brisbane, Queensland, that Gloria learned about the area of giftedness. For the first time, Gloria realised that her daughter had grown up as a gifted child. It was this journey of discovery that sparked the creation of these books. There was a burning desire to help gifted kids understand who they are and to help them grow up feeling wonderful about themselves and their abilities.

Gloria’s series of five picture books creates a doorway into the world of the gifted and talented child. Bronwyn and Gloria hope these stories will help gifted children talk to their parents about being gifted and assist parents to understand the key issues a gifted child could face.

The series of 5 books is especially written to affirm gifted children. It is multi-layered and designed to grow with the child. Each book tells the tale of a young cheetah cub who displays traits in one area of giftedness. The cubs explore their world by playing games. These are simple, clear stories; but the implications are considerably more complex.

Gloria’s husband, Peter, has supported the journey of the books which have now been published in Australia, USA & Canada, Turkey, The Netherlands & Belgium and are presently being translated into Arabic. Peter will be joining us for the webinar to field questions about his role in the gifted world, from parenting to publishing.

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Dr. Matt Zakreski is a clinical psychologist who lives outside of Philadelphia, PA who specializes in working with gifted kids and their families. He works with PAGE, SENG, NAGC, and other gifted organiztions to consult, advocate, and educate parents, schools, systems, and mental health professionals on giftedness, twice-exceptionality, and best practices. He just opened his own private psychological practice The Neurodiversity Collective. He is a big fan of Gloria's book (so much so that he finally started writing his own!)

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The books were published by Royal Fireworks Press (RFWP) in the US. RFWP was founded in 1977 to provide educators with completely different materials with which to educate children. They believe that education should be child-centered. Education is an individual process, and each individual is different. In order to be effective at the highest level, educational materials should be flexible and adaptable to each individual child. The books can be purchased here:

https://www.rfwp.com/series/gifted-kid-book-series#book-set-of-all-five-books-in-the-gifted-kid-book-series