By Iris Butler
A note from Kristan Hoffman, daughter of publisher Gilbert Hoffman:
30 years ago, before the digital age had fully taken hold, and this newspaper was still laid out on giant paste-up boards each week, my dad marked off a small section on one of the interior pages and gifted it to me. We named it “Kids Korner,” and every week I did my best to fill it with fun features like jokes, drawings, and best of all, my own writing. What a cool job for a kid! What an honor.
Now my young daughter would like a chance to follow in those footsteps. I guess newspaper ink must run in our bloodline. Anyway, I hope you will indulge and enjoy this new generation’s fresh energy, creativity, and humor, just like you always did for me.
*****
Dear Reader,
My name is Iris Butler, and I am 7 years old. I live in Cincinnati with the most famous hippo! Her name is Fiona, and she has a little brother named Fritz. I have a little brother too, named Reed. My mom is a writer, and my dad works at a company called P&G. Oh and my dad makes the best lasagna!
I am writing this column because I read a book where the main character writes a column for her local newspaper, and I thought it would be fun. The book is from the Front Desk series by Kelly Yang.
Here are some things I like to do: paint, swim, and hang out with my friends. I have a few very close friends. Two of them are like my sisters. Their names are Tess and Anna. We call ourselves the Three Musketeers. We are in the same first grade class, and we play soccer together.
At school we are learning a lot about birds. My teacher used to work with birds at the Cincinnati Zoo. There is a kind of feather called semiplume, and I like it because it is fuzzy. I also like scarlet macaws, because they are red, green, and blue, from top to bottom.
I hope you liked my first column! If you would like to write me a message, my email address is helloirisbutler@gmail.com. Take care!
—
Jokes:
1. Did you hear about the fight between the lipstick and the eye shadow?
Don’t worry, they’ll make up.
2. What do you call a fish without eyes?
FSH!
3. What do you call a cow that plays the flute?
A moo-sician.
