Oak Hill second grade teacher Juanita Stephens recently published her first book entitled "Martha the Multiplying Magician." She said that the process took her about three years to complete.

"Most of the time was spent getting the story put together," Juanita said. "Once I finished the story, my next step was to find an artist to draw the pictures. After I found Rashad Jones, my next challenge was to find a publisher which ended up being Authorhouse."

"Martha the Multiplying Magician" is about a little girl, Martha and her assistant Gregory who are putting on a magic show by multiplying different objects together. It's generally a book for 8 to 7-year-olds and the goal is to make them enjoy learning multiplication.

"I've taught students for 12 years. I wanted my students, as well as other children, to find learning to be fun instead of boring. I also wanted it to be a little easier on them as well," Juanita continued.

She said that her family pushed her to write the book. During the process, her mother became ill and passed on due to sickness. After her mother's passing, Juanita's husband pushed her into finishing the book in her mother's memory.

"Originally, the little girl's name was to be Maggie. After my mother passed, I changed it to Martha. This is because that was my mother's name as well. I thought it would be a perfect way to include her and to honor her in the book," Hill said.

When Hill finished her book, she first tried it out on her son, niece and the children next door.
"Once I saw them actually reading it and enjoying it, I knew that it was time to get it published. I officially finished my book this summer before school started back," Juanita remembers.

Since then, Juanita's book has appeared on popular websites such as Amazon and many others. Her next goal is to see it appear in book stores as well.

"I definitely plan on writing more books in the future," she said. "After completing the first one, I feel like I can do many more."