“When I was 6 and starting to pick books for myself, that’s when I found out I wasn’t a great reader and that it had a name…the words got jumbled up…dyslexia! I didn’t like reading, and then I was introduced to Encyclopedia Brown, my first boy friend…” – Octavia Spencer, Academy Award winning actress.

Octavia Spencer struggled with reading, having to read lines over and over again to get the meaning, but a teacher figured out that mystery stories might be a good way to hook Octavia on a book. “I’m reading today because of Encyclopedia Brown.” Since winning an Academy Award for her performance in “The Help”, Octavia has been writing Ninja Detective stories for children with strong female characters. “I wanted to write about the things that I love,” Spencer said. Her novels include prompts for the reader to try things, such as dressing incognito, hiding a secret message in an eggshell or writing in code. The young heroine of the books has a black belt in tae kwon do.”


“You have to believe in yourself and you have to work very hard.”

 

 

 

Interview on Black Doctor

Dyslexia | Dyslexic Advantage