Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina Charlotte wherein she majored in Theater Arts. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, their two adorable young divas, and their dog. She’s a drama and theater arts teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg County School System. Sheryl has a double identity in that she’s also a vlogger who goes by the name The Activity Author but more on that later.
Her artistic skill shines through in her beautifully illustrated debut children’s book, My Daddy Doesn’t Need a Cape. This book is a hilarious family friendly story that celebrates the importance of dads in the lives of their daughter as told by a 5 year old orator named Kimmie. She views her dad as an infallible character of nobility, bravery, and valor. To that end she believes that he’s a superhero. This book in and of itself spoke to me at a macro level because the author dedicated it to the men that show relentless strength in guiding their youth. That hits home for me because that’s exactly what I’ve always tried to do for my daughter. To that end, my daughter has readily admitted throughout her life that I’ve always been her superhero. The irony is that I originally purchased it for her to give her moments of reflection of yesteryear when she was much younger but I felt so compelled after reading it that I had to purchase another copy of it for myself. I had to do so because I felt like the book was made especially for me. As a result, I did a special reading of the book with Sheryl’s permission. You can catch the replay by going here if you missed it.
Moving along, Sheryl can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. She makes children’s books three dimensional by conceptualizing activities that are based off of the central premise of their books. She does this with nothing more than items that you can buy at the $1 store and her own creative ingenuity. What I’m saying here is that the activities themselves are low cost and that she receives little creative direction from the authors. She incorporates her daughters into the activities and posts them up on YouTube for the general public to see. In doing so, she creates true connections to the books and brings them to life.
5 ⭐️’s all around to Sheryl, The Activity Author.
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