Peg 12
Weckcndor
Thursday, Jenuary 24, 1CCO
Ace in Computerand?
Kids' book explores idea
By DINITA JAMES
For a 4-year-old, Gatie is quite a
heroine.
Her dad, Fred D'lgnazio, published
his first children's book in December,
with Catie as the protagonist.
Although a bit older and blonde
instead of brunette, Katie in Katie and
the Computer is Catie D'lgnazio. .
The Katie in the book even wears
Catie's favorite color red.
D'lgnazio, a Ph.D. candidate in the
computer science department at UNC,
says hf believes computers will come
into common use in the home in the
not-so-distant future, and children
should become familiar with them at
an early age.
His book combines educational
information and fantasy and the
brilliantly colored illustrations of Stan
Gilliam, a part-time secretary in the
American studies department at UNC.
The Alice-in-Wonderland plot
. includes Katie as the heroine and a
villain, The Bug, in an adventurous tale
of Katie's fall through the-computer
screen into the incredible land inside.
D'lgnazio credits his wife, Janet, who
is transportation director of Chapel
Hill, with the idea for the story. Hesays
she made an idle remark one day
wondering what would happen if Catie
fell into their home computer.
From her toddler days, Catie would
sit on his lap and type on the computer
keys, D'lgnazio says.
As the book developed, D'lgnazio
says Catie was his biggest critic. She
listened to two versions of the story
every night before bed, and
memorized the words.
"I had written in a line that read, 'The
Bug pulled them closer and closer to
his gaping jaws,' but Catie didn't know
what the word 'gaping' meant," he
says. "One night she recited 'hungry
jaws and that's how it is in the book."
Catie also had a disagreement with
the publisher. D'lgnazio says the
.publisher urged him to change the
spelling of Catie to Katie to insure
correct pronunciation.
"She wrote three angry letters to the
publisher, with all these ugly pictures,"
D'lgnazio says. "She though they were
changing her name, too.
"We're still having some
disagreement now," he says.
"Whenever she autographs a book,
she spells her name with a K,
Catie, er, Katie and her father will be
autographing books at a 7-10 p.m. wine
and cheese party Friday and a 10 a.m.
noon children's party Saturday at the
Foundation Bookstore. 13
Dinita James is editor of-Weekender.
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Cati at computer with father (right) and Gilliam
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