The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Captain Courage and the Fear-Squishing Shoes by Stacey A. Marshall

A precocious third grader named Katie shrivels during countless situations at her new school.  She’s terrified to present at show-and-tell, too nervous to chat in the lunchroom and can hardly get the courage to participate in class.  That is, until a unique superhero swoops in to the rescue, showing Katie how to have self-confidence and courage.  Captain Courage, the first in a series of books from Marshall, is a fun-filled tale for teachers and parents to share with all school-aged kids – and makes it easy to sneak in tips about effective, confident communication.

“There’s such a need for a series of books to help this age group (elementary/grade-school kids) with effective speaking,” said author Stacey Marshall.  “So many teachers have asked me over the years to help their students, because kids are becoming increasingly involved in public speaking at school, and most of them struggle with it.  With most kids today communicating only with their phones/computers, they need more help than ever with face-to-face verbal communication!”

The inspiration for the book came when Marshall was a student at Duke University, and developed a friendship with Theodore Geisel (aka, Dr. Seuss).  She told him that she was eventually going to be a children’s book writer like him, and he encouraged her to follow her dreams.

The dream was put on hold as Stacey became a broadcaster, speech-language pathologist, motivational speaker, freelance writer and public speaking coach to children and adults of all ages, including media training to Division I, NBA, NFL and Olympic athletes in the media.  With her unique background, Stacey became acutely aware of the positive effect that optimal, confident communication had on self-esteem – especially in children.  She decided it was time to start writing her first book.

Captain Courage and the Fear-Squishing Shoes is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and select retailers throughout the US.  For more information on author Stacey Marshall and the Captain Courage series, visit http://www.captaincourage.com.   Check out Stacey’s humorous video about the way kids communicate today vs. in the past: http://youtu.be/g6PGMFuAvD4.

Stacey Marshall started her own public speaking company in 1995.  She has conducted public speaking training and seminars within major  corporations across the country, plus media training for Division I and Olympic athletes. Stacey has also used her knowledge and expertise to help business leaders, politicians, litigators, actors, broadcasters and many others find and hone their natural presentation styles for more effective communication. In addition, she has worked with children and teenagers to develop confident speaking in formal and informal situations in school and in life.

An author, former broadcaster and motivational speaker, Stacey is also a winner of the Women Executives International “Speak Out”. She earned her degrees from Duke University and the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill.