Local Author Publishes First Books

Land O’ Lakes author Kentrell Martin has published the first two books in “Shelly’s Adventures,” a planned series that focuses on teaching American Sign Language.

And he has already received some recognition, according to a press release.

Each book tells a story and teaches signs. The first book is titled Shelly’s Outdoor Adventure. The second book is called Shelly Goes to the Zoo.

The series was made available to the public May 31.

Shelly’s Outdoor Adventures was named as a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. Both books were given the “five star seal” on Reader’s Favorites, according to a press release from wife and publicist Allison Martin.

The series stars 7-year-old Shelly, the child of a deaf adult. Her father and her brother are both deaf. Shelly is not deaf, but in the stories, she teaches her friends American Sign Language so they can communicate with her family.

Martin, whose brother is deaf, has said he plans on producing a series of at least 20 books of Shelly’s Adventures.  He is writing the books, but someone else is illustrating them. Martin has talked about wanting to start a T.V. series based on the books.

Each book comes with a DVD on which the book is read aloud. The DVDs also feature recordings of a live action interpreter performing the signs in the stories and telling the stories in ASL. 

Martin says he worked with a sign language interpreter and ASL comedian, Windell “Wink” Smith of St Petersburg, to produce the DVDs and make sure signs are correct. 

Patch wrote about Martin’s series in January when the writer launched a Kickstarter to fund costs. That project failed to get funding.

To find out more about the series and order books, visit the homepage for Shelly's Adventures.