MTSU music professor Christine Isley-Farmer weaves together a charming tale featuring a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as the story’s narrator in Finding My Yip, the first book in her Boomer’s Tales series.
Boomer is a puppy who is unable to yip like his mother and sisters. Boomer lives with Nana Weathers, a musician who possesses a magical ring that helps them communicate. Boomer quickly bonds with Nana’s 9-year-old granddaughter Chloe, who has a stutter. Chloe’s big wish is to sing beautifully like Nana. Chloe and Boomer make new friends at dog obedience school and grow their confidence together. By teaming up in the music room and gaining a little help from their friends, Chloe and Boomer try to find their voices.
The stories found in opera and song have always fascinated and inspired Christine. The power of storytelling and music’s healing qualities have woven their way through her life and found a voice in this series. Chloe and Boomer seek to develop confidence, make friends and strengthen their bond while challenging their greatest fears.
Christine Isley-Farmer, professor emerita of music at MTSU, has a broad performance history including opera, operetta, musical theatre, oratorio and concerts in the United States and Europe. Since 1997, Dr. Isley-Farmer has been a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and her articles on Alexander Technique and singing have been published in professional journals.
Q&A with Christine Isley-Farmer
How does your choice of 9-year-old Chloe having a stutter and young puppy Boomer, who is unable to bark, create a bond and empathetic relationship between the two?
Christine Isley-Farmer: Chloe and Boomer instinctively understand and connect with one another, because they are dealing with similar problems. Chloe immediately recognizes Boomer’s inability to yip, but she isn’t judgmental. She accepts Boomer as he is, because his problem mirrors the ones she has making friends, speaking and singing. Chloe bonds with Boomer and is selfless in her pursuit to find out about his problem, spending extra time with him, reading to him from her poetry notebook, and sharing her true feelings with him. This interaction builds a bond of trust between the two—a model of true friendship.
What do you want the children who read this book to learn?
In the process of growing, the dog and the child have to contend with self-doubt at pivotal points. Learning to trust one’s instincts and others, teamwork and growing self-confidence are lessons in my book.
How did you become interested in writing children’s stories, and why did you choose this topic?
I have a great-nephew and great-niece to whom Finding My Yip is dedicated. I wanted to write this book and series as a part of an artistic legacy. I had once read a man should plant a tree, have a child and write a book. As a woman, I have accomplished two of these, so writing books for children substitutes for having a child in my case. Additionally, the freedom I experienced singing, dancing (being expressive) and reading took me out of the dysfunctional atmosphere in my home.
I chose the topic of stuttering because it inhibits full and free vocal expression. As a child, I found it difficult to express what I was feeling (although I didn’t have a stutter).
How did you first become interested in singing, and what are the important qualities for a professional singer to possess?
My first singing experiences as a child were in church, but I loved making up my own songs and dancing and singing by myself in my yard. I also studied piano and took tap and ballet classes. In high school, I sang in choir and became interested in opera after seeing a performance of The Barber of Seville. I borrowed some opera recordings from my cousin and fell deeply in love with the genre. I also began voice lessons the summer before my senior year. My high school had by then a dynamic choral director who took an interest in my voice and encouraged me to audition for music scholarships.
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