Guide to Categories : Author Interview – an interview with an author, if there is no review from me, I have not read the book and cannot speak to its appropriateness for a school library

About the Book

Book: Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin

Author: Dennis Conrad

Genre: Christian Children’s Picture Book

Release date: October 30, 2023

Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin is an exciting adventure in the Ancient Roman Empire at the time of Christ. Eight-year-old Marcus and his father are on a mission for the Emperor and visit a mine and a mint where coins are made. Marcus himself makes a denarius, a coin with the emperor’s image.

Marcus goes to Jerusalem where he sees Jesus hold a denarius saying, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” What will seeing Jesus mean for Marcus, and will he ever be the same again?

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Read my review of this title. 

About the Author – Dennis Conrad

A former coin collector for over fifty years, Dennis combines his love for the Bible, children’s literature, and sharing stories about the history behind coins.

Dennis retired as a professor of speech communications from Barstow Community College. He and his wife served as English and public speaking teachers ten summers overseas.

Dennis became a sustaining member of the Numismatic Association of Southern California in 1979. He is also a life member of the American Numismatic Association.

Dennis is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and a Fellow of the National Writing Project.

More from Dennis Conrad

How to Turn a Penny into a Teachable Moment

Dennis Conrad

Connect with your child or grandchild by starting a coin collection.

Start with the penny, also known as the Lincoln Head Cent. The coins were first minted in 1909 because it was the 100^th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

Use the coin to help your child make the connections with who Lincoln was, what he did, and when he lived. Reasons why Abraham Lincoln is featured on a coin include the following:

1. Lincoln is often at the top of the list of America’s greatest presidents.
2. He helped to preserve the Union during the American Civil War.
3. His Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves.
4. The Gettysburg Address ranks as one of the best speeches of all time.

Now, Look On the Back (the Reverse)

Go through change to find the different images on the backs of pennies.

There are wheat ears (1909-1958) and the Lincoln Memorial (1959-2008).

To celebrate the 200^th anniversary of his birth, the U.S. Mint issued coins with four different images on the back. The Lincoln Bicentennial (2009) coins include a log cabin, Lincoln sitting on a log, Lincoln standing in front of the state capitol of Illinois, and an unfinished U.S. Capitol Building (the way it was when he was president.) For the past several years, there has is a shield on the back representing the preserved union (2010-Present).

Add one of each reverse to the child’s collection.

Don’t forget to mention the words, the date, and the mintmark.

The words include “One Cent,” “In God We Trust,” “Liberty,” “The United States of America,” and “E Pluribus Unum” which means “Out of many, one.”

Also, look for and find the year minted and the mintmark.

Find and add a coin from the child’s birth year to the child’s collection.

Look at the mintmark. It is a letter on the front of the coin under the date. The “D” is for Denver, the “S” for San Francisco, and the absence of a mintmark means the coin was minted in Philadelphia.

Add coins with the different mintmarks to the child’s collection.

Keep the collection safe in a small box or a Ziploc bag. Have fun. Add to the collection as time goes by.

Free Resources

Want to encourage the child in your life to learn more about coins? Sign up at https://dennisconradauthor.com so your child can become a Junior Coin Collector. Receive free, monthly activity sheets like a crossword puzzle. There is a Coin Hunt section where children can search for and find coins in change for their collection, and a Vocabulary Builder section with coin collecting terms.

Author Interview Dennis Conrad

When did you first know you wanted to be an author? 

The earliest evidence of my writing hung on the wall of my childhood home for decades. My mother framed a picture and my writing about a cow when I was about 9 years old. Years later, my first article about procrastination was published. 

When you are not writing, what other hats do you wear? What do you do for fun?

My wife, Diane, and I have been married thirty-four years this June. In October 2019, Diane fell, had a brain bleed, and brain surgery. She now has dementia. I have been her caregiver until recently when her condition worsened. She is now living in a senior community with memory care. I see her every day. For fun, I like going for walks at a nearby lake and taking part in water aerobics.   

What is your favorite genre to read? What about that genre draws you?

Because I write children’s picture books, I read a lot of them. I am drawn to them because they are short, and usually, they make me smile. I also read a lot of books of different genres by author friends. 

What is your favorite holiday? And why?

For over three decades, I have loved celebrating my wife, Diane’s, Valentine’s Day birthday. However, this was not always so. When we were first dating, I forgot Diane’s, Valentine’s Day birthday. How was that possible? I was out of town on a business trip. When I returned, I found in my mailbox an “I am disappointed in you” letter. I immediately took her a present and flowers. We were married in June. Every year during Christmas, I buy my wife a present for her birthday to be sure I don’t forget.   

What historical figure do you admire and why?

Abraham Lincoln: He kept the Union together. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves. He wrote perhaps the best written speech of all time, “The Gettysburg Address.” 

Who did you have in mind as you wrote the book?

I had in mind a child reading the book with a loved one. I wanted to write a book like one I would have wanted to read or have read to me. As a child, I attended church and was a coin collector, so I think Marcus and the Emperor’s Coin would have been one of my favorite books. 

Which character did you enjoy writing most?

Marcus is a bit clumsy. As I was creating situations for him that showed him to be messing up, I wanted him to have a bit of maturity by the end.  

Which character gave you the most grief?

Accurately portraying Jesus was a bit of a challenge. I would not say writing about Him caused me the most grief. Rather, because Jesus makes only a brief appearance, I did not want the story to end up sounding preachy.  

What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about it?

My current work in progress is a children’s picture storybook set in ancient Rome between 300-325 A.D. To be historically accurate, I have researched Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. To make the story as realistic as possible, I have studied what life was like in ancient Rome during this time period. 

As a former K-12 school librarian I have to ask – what is your favorite children’s book?

Image sitting on the floor within a several-foot circle of standing book pages.  Grandfather’s Farm Panorama: Ten Feet Long is a board book by Platt and Munk, Co., Inc. and was designed to do just that. The pictures of the farm animals include  cows; a turkey; a rooster, a hen, and her chicks; ducks; rabbits and small bunnies; a nanny goat and her kid, and a mare and her foal. My parents grew up in rural Kansas. The book allowed me to get the feel of what it was like on a farm.  

What advice would you give to a child or teen who wants to be a writer?

If you want to be an author, you have to write. Learn the craft of writing by studying books about writing and read the kinds of books you want to write. Figure out why you want to write. When you know why, you will have a better chance of persisting in the face of setbacks and disappointment.   

Do you have any resources readers would find helpful? 

Readers can visit https://dennisconradauthor.com. 

Children can become Junior Coin Collectors and get free Activity Sheets (like a crossword puzzle) each month. There is also a “Coin Hunt” section that encourages young people to search for and find coins in change, and a “Vocabulary Builder” that teaches words related to coin collecting.  

Thanks for joining me today. My readers and I like to learn more about the authors behind the books.

Views expressed in this interview/guest post do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog host

Blog Stops

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Artistic Nobody, May 9 (Author Interview)

Vicky Sluiter, May 10

Texas Book-aholic, May 11

Beauty in the Binding, May 12 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 13

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 14

Hannahbandanarama, May 15

Guild Master, May 16 (Author Interview)

Lights in a Dark World, May 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, May 17

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 18

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, May 19 (Author Interview)

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, May 20

Labor Not in Vain, May 21

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Dennis is giving away the grand prize package of a $100 Amazon gift card and a signed hardback copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2b7c8/marcus-and-the-emperor-s-coin-celebration-tour-giveaway

Read more author interview posts.