I am thrilled to have my friend, Catherine Matthias, share a blog post today.
Catherine is a picture book, middle grade, and adult author and a fellow Oregonian. She is also a passionate advocate for helping all children read.

As a former teacher, I have a particular interest in ways to help struggling readers. Catherine’s book, THE WORD GOBBLERS addresses one often overlooked cause of such struggles.

Catherine Matthias:  THE WORD GOBBLERS

One out of six children struggle to read the books we write. These are the children who never know the pleasure reaching out to them from the adventurous books of Brian Jacques, whose Red Wall series was a favorite of my grandchildren. They’ll never know the spinetingling spookiness of the Goosebumps stories of R. L. Stine, or the friendship found in books such as The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

Reading may give some children headaches or stomachaches. It may make some hyper while putting others to sleep. Some of these children may have depth perception problems that lead to poor sports ability. They are often ridiculed or bullied, leading to low self-esteem.

The cause for this is not dyslexia, and the tools used to overcome dyslexia will not work for this condition known as Irlen Syndrome. It is caused by the brain’s inability to process certain wavelengths of light that correspond to different colors. The condition may be genetic or brought on by brain injury, and it falls on a spectrum from mild to severe.

Approximately one third of those diagnosed with dyslexia, do not have dyslexia. They have Irlen Syndrome. Another third have both dyslexia and Irlen Syndrome; however, if the symptoms of Irlen are not mitigated first, it will be nearly impossible to overcome dyslexia through the multi-sensory structured language approach.

My nonfiction book, The Word Gobblers – a handbook for parents working with children struggling to read, published by Square One in 2021, offers a practical guide to determining if your child could have this condition, easy first steps to take to ease the symptoms, and advice on next steps to take to help them improve their ready ability and enjoy the world of books.

About Catherine:

I was an outdoor child—biking, swimming, endless nights of tag, hide-and-seek, and touch football. My book reading occurred at night, snuggled in bed, the light on past midnight, telling myself, “Just one more chapter.”

My newest book, When the Sky Turned to Dust, is a middle grade historical fiction published in June 2025.

My love of children’s books became deep and enduring in my early twenties, when I taught in a Cheltenham, PA, preschool (though teaching toddlers is more like being a Maypole, something for them to dash around and occasionally hold onto). That love continued to grow when I became a mother, and then a grandmother, reading aloud, and never minding repeating our favorites.

My nonfiction adult book, The Word Gobblers – a handbook for parents working with children struggling to read, was published by Square One Publishers, NY, in 2021. It is a natural extension of my work as a Certified Irlen Syndrome Screener, my children’s book writing, and my desire to see all children enjoy reading. I address the medically-based causes and traits of the condition and provide parents and teachers with the tools to identify the problem and relieve the physical and emotional symptoms.

I am also the author of six early reader picture books published in English and Spanish by Children’s Press, an imprint of Scholastic Books. Out the Door, Over-Under, I Love Cats, and Too Many Balloons are fiction. I Can Be a Police Officer and I Can Be a Computer Operator are nonfiction.

Presently I am working with artist Joan Gilbert on a picture book about a mischievous orange tabby cat named Jake, and a series of books about two bunny brothers.

I live in rural Joseph, Oregon, near the base of the beautiful Wallowa Mountains with my husband Stewart Jones, a snuggly, gray tabby named Mica, and a shy black cat named Jade.

You can find out more about Catherine and her books at her website.

Thank you so much, Catherine!

And, readers, stay tuned. Catherine will be back for an Author Spotlight interview where we will talk about her latest book – an incredible middle grade historical called WHEN THE SKY TURNED TO DUST.