COLUMBUS, Ohio — As a former teacher turned children's author, Erica Carlson has been educating and entertaining central Ohio kids for 25 years.
"As a mom of three, I love making things a little deeper for kids and trying to sneak a lesson in there, but also to keep it fun," explained Carlson.
She started performing as a magician when she was a teenager, and her show has evolved over the years to find her family's pets as the central characters. Those pets have become the stars of their own series of children's books written by Carlson and illustrated by central Ohio artist Drew Dittmar.
"Sedgie the Hedgie Finds the Treasure" was the first in the series and it casts Carlson's family hedgehog as a pirate on a treasure hunt. The second book "Sedgie the Hedgie Solves the Case" comes out on June 7 and sees the pet posing as a classic detective solving a mystery.
Carlson's performances delight young and old with live readings, jokes, songs and a number of magic tricks to help tell the tales of Sedgie and his friends (and fellow real-life family pets) Picasso the Turtle and Clover the Pup.
"It's really fun to be able to do a read-aloud with kids where you're reading a book and then you say, 'Pause!' put the book down and do a magic trick that helps them see something in real life," explained Carlson. "The synapses that can connect and the magic that can happen from your brain connecting real things to images in a book, it's just really cool."
For Carlson, part of the education includes showing kids that they can be successful while pursuing their artistic passions and interests.
"It's really neat to be in a creative field that shows kids that being an artist or being a creatively-minded person is a viable career path," said Carlson.
For more information on her books as well as her upcoming appearances around the city, visit her website: https://ericaentertainment.com/.