Geneva author to sign children’s book at TownHouse Books Aug. 23

When Scott Comperda’s children were little, in addition to reading to them, he made up his own stories.

One of them was, “Thunder Comes Home for the Big Race!” about a stegosaurus.

His daughter April was about 6 or 7 when she said, “This is my favorite story to read tomorrow.”

Fast forward about 20 years and Camperda will be signing his first published children’s book, “I Can Invent Great Things, Too!” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 at TownHouse Books & Cafe, 105 N. Second Ave., St. Charles.

Camperda grew up in St. Charles, but now lives in Geneva.

“Everything you see here was invented or designed by someone who was once eight years old,” Camperda said of how a child might react to his book. “You might have an idea someday. Always think you can improve on a product that will help others.”

Camperda listed items that a child might consider – such as buildings, windows, buses, headlights – all designed by someone who was once very young.

“You can do it, too,” Camperda said. “Just don’t think you can’t tap into your mind and create something wonderful for the world.”

It was about 2008 when Camperda was coming home from a doctor’s appointment, driving down Main Street in St. Charles and an idea hit him for a children’s story.

“I was coming up with lines for my story,” Camperda said. “I just came up with good lines ... the story was evolving. I’m driving over the Fox River, heading west and I can see the McDonald’s. I thought, ‘I gotta write this down now. If I go home, with a wife and three kids it’s going to be, Dad, I need this. Dad I need that.’ My whole train of thought would be lost.”

He didn’t have any paper in the car.

He could see the McDonald’s coming up and remembered that the backs of their tray liners were blank.

Camperda said he spent the next two hours at McDonald’s writing on the backs of tray liners.

The story follows the dream of a little boy named Billy, which takes him to a small town in the late 1800s. Another little boy enters the dream, and Billy learns that an idea for a new invention can happen any time for anyone – no matter the age.

It is this dream that ignites Billy’s passion for invention.

True to the theme, Camperda’s book also includes a timeline of inventions that shaped the world.

These include pottery vessels for carrying water and food, first made in China about 18,000 BC; soap first made in Mesopotamia about 3,000 BC; the pencil was invented in 1795 by Jacques Conte; the tape measure was invented in 1821 by Brit James Chesterman.

Each invention serves as a reminder that every inventor started as a curious and inquisitive child, Comperda wrote in an overview for the book.

More information about Camperda’s book is available at sketicokids.com.