Local Teen Illustrates Children's Book With Strong Message

In between the piles of schoolwork bestowed upon every eighth-grader, Tuckahoe student Noelle Crough silently worked on a side project dedicated to showcasing one of her many passions: drawing.

And at the ripe old age of 13, Noelle was no longer just a recreational artist. She was illustrating her first book, an inspirational story about a young boy’s struggles with dyslexia and learning to read.

Noelle worked on the project for six months, and when she was finished, put it in the back of her mind. She forgot about the long hours sitting at her desk, drawing the cartoons for each page—until, earlier this year, when the now-senior at Southampton High School learned that the book, “Why Can’t I Read?” has been published.

“I sent it off to the author and I was finished. I was certainly not thinking long-term in the eighth grade,” she said. “I didn’t think anything would become of it. And then, two months ago, I received an email that the book was published—and I thought that was pretty cool.”

The children’s book was written by a kid himself—A.J. Torres, who lives in California. With the help of his mother, Laurie O’Hara, he decided to pen the story to help children with dyslexia, a language processing disorder that can hinder reading, writing, spelling and sometimes even speaking, following his own diagnosis at age 8. A bright boy who excelled in math and science, he did not understand why he had trouble when it came to reading.

After his diagnosis, his family set out to find a simple, easy-to-read book to help explain dyslexia to A.J. To their dismay, their search came up empty. So they decided to rectify that situation.

“He was a really smart kid,” Noelle said. “He would invent things, and he is just out-of-the-park smart, but he just could not read. They could not find a book like this that explained in terms a kid could connect to and understand. So they took it upon themselves.”

Noelle first learned about the book through her grandmother, Lynne Savitt—she was a friend of the Torres family, and they had actually approached her to do the illustrations, but she had to decline—and tackled the project one page at a time, illustrating each point of the story. The characters nearly drew themselves, based on the book’s descriptions—except the protagonist, who Noelle said is a mix of the author and her brother.

To make the book more kid-friendly, Noelle drew every picture by hand before adding color to the cartoons via computer.

“A.J. had such a strong voice in the book, and I portrayed what each page talked about to the best of my ability,” she said.

This week, Noelle’s parents, Dr. Daniel and Allyson Crough, said they could not be more proud of Noelle, calling her an “inspiration.”

“All parents think their kids are special,” said Dr. Crough, a member of the Tuckahoe Board of Education. “Noelle is no exception. She impressed us with her dedication to the project, hour after hour and day after day. We love the way she channeled her love of drawing to contribute to one boy’s story of dyslexia, from confusion and struggle through growth and triumph. Sometimes, children can inspire us all to work harder and to be better.”

Since illustrating “Why Can’t I Read?” Noelle has also drawn the cover art for two books of poetry written by her grandmother, Lynne Savitt, “Digging Dinosaur Dignity in Ardortown,” and “Relics of Lust: New and Selected Poems.”

While Noelle plans to continue drawing in the future, she expects it to dissolve into a hobby. This fall, the 18-year-old will attend Cornell University in Ithaca, where she said she hopes to study biological sciences. Although she always dreamed of being an illustrator as a child, she fell in love with Advanced Placement Biology last year and now aspires to become a doctor—perhaps, someday, helping children with dyslexia in another way.

“It is really exciting and cool to think that something I did in the eighth grade would be good enough to be sold and for people to care enough to read it,” Noelle said. “I hope my work measures up to it, because the message of the book is so awesome, and it has the potential to help so many people and kids.”

“Why Can’t I Read?” by A.J. Torres and illustrated by Noelle Crough, published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, is now available at local bookstores and at Amazon.com.