10-Year-Old’s Wise Words Get Into Print

Before even outgrowing her retainer, Thousand Oaks fifth-grader Dani Anderson has put most wannabe writers to shame.

A tender 10 years of age, the pixieish blond with blue wire-rimmed glasses has already been published.

Her tome is Funk and Wagnalls’ The World Almanac for Kids 1997.

She is included in the “What Kids Are Saying” section of the almanac, on page 10. For their answers to the question “If you had $25, what would you do with it?” Dani and nine other fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from across the country were included in the book.

Thinking of her family before herself, Dani answered, “I would take my Mommy, Daddy and brother to McDonald’s, and I would enjoy paying for once.” Other respondents said they would buy a meal for a homeless person, purchase a whole heaping load of paperback books, invest in a computer game and splurge on pizza and soda for their classmates.

Sitting on a bench outside Glenwood Elementary School on Tuesday, swinging her sneakered feet, Dani downplayed the accomplishment and said she is just an ordinary kid.

The chatty student--who actually prefers math and art lessons to language arts--got her writing start last year, penning stories for her fourth-grade class. She diplomatically attributes her writing acumen “half and half” to both parents.

“I think I was pretty lucky” to be included in the almanac, she said earnestly. “I was the most surprised of all when I found out. . . . Then I thought, ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool.’ ”

Mom Lissa Anderson and Glenwood Principal Pam Chasse, however, weren’t stunned a bit.

Dani is a straight-A student and vice president of her school. The Muscular Dystrophy in her hands and legs doesn’t keep her from playing piano and taking horseback riding lessons.

“Dani has just led a charmed life,” said her mother. “She just has a lot of people who love her, and she knows that.”

To celebrate Dani’s success, school officials threw her a small party in the teachers’ lounge during a recent lunch hour. The staff gave her a card, naturally, with $25 enclosed.

True to her word, Dani took her mom, dad and 21-month-old brother to the Golden Arches, where they feasted on Happy Meals, cheeseburgers and Big Macs.

“This couldn’t have happened to a better person,” said Chasse. “Dani is someone everyone on the staff admires. She’s a kind, loving person who has a lot of courage. She’s a role model for us all.”

To show the school’s pride in its budding author, a copy of the yellow-jacketed children’s reference will soon appear on the shelves of the school library.

Even if the almanac doesn’t top the New York Times’ Bestseller List any time soon, it’s bound to be a Glenwood Elementary critic’s choice.

John Grisham eat your heart out.