Righteous Ray-Ray Has a Bad Day Beginning Readers Edition (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780988363410)

Raymond Smith believes that "Reading is everything." He received his B.A. in secondary English education from Chicago State University in 2006. Growing up in the violent Chicago area, Raymond found his safety in books. In elementary school Raymond would finish his work before everyone so his teachers would tell him to get a book from the classroom library. There Raymond began to love reading. Raymond says "Reading books changed my life and opened up the world to me." He recently received his Master's Degree in Reading at Olivet Nazarene University. Currently, he is a 7th grade Language Arts and Reading teacher in Chicago, IL. Raymond spent four years working as a site coordinator in Chicago at the "World Famous" Bethel-Imani CDF Freedom School, a summer reading program that encourages children to love reading. It was here where Raymond was inspired to begin writing books because he dreamed of reading his own book during the "Read Aloud" component of the daily Harambee celebration. "Read Aloud" is where a guest from the community visits to read their favorite book to the scholars. Furthermore, Raymond also noticed that many of his students did not value reading and were often unengaged with their texts in school, and he wanted to develop something to give young readers an enjoyable experience so that hopefully they would grow to love reading. Raymond hopes that after children read his books that they are motivated, inspired and better readers. Presently, Raymond resides on Chicago's south side.