Young Clearwater siblings become published authors

Clearwater youngsters Isabella Correira, age 8, and her brother Avery, age 4, became published authors on World Smile Day last month, when their knock-knock jokes were selected to appear in the “Little Book - Big Laughs” Knock-Knock Book.

Their father, Chris Correira, learned about the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation joke book contest and thought it might be fun for his kids to participate.

He said, “They love to be silly (as do I), so when I saw the opportunity for them to get some of their favorite jokes submitted to a published book, I jumped at it. I didn’t tell them about it until after I was notified at least one of their jokes made the cut; and it turned out that three of their jokes made it! Now they’re super excited to show off their jokes in the book.”

Both kids had the same response when their dad told them their jokes made it into the book: “Cool!”

Avery’s jokes:

Knock knock! Who’s there? Olive. Olive who? Olive you too!

Knock knock! Who’s there? Interrupting pirate. Interrupting p… ARRRRRRRR!

Isabella’s joke:

Knock knock! Who’s there? Mikey. Mikey who? Mikey broke in the lock, let me in!

In addition to telling jokes, third-grader Isabella’s interests include gymnastics, crafts, reading, riding her scooter, swimming, cooking, dancing, animals, fishing and playing Minecraft. Little brother Avery enjoys dinosaurs, sharks, monster trucks, Avengers, Minecraft, riding his bike, swimming, dancing, and being silly in general.

Avery’s and Isabella’s jokes join those submitted by children from across the country with the publication of not only the “Little Book - Big Laughs” Knock-Knock Book but also the “Little Book - Big Laughs” Riddle Book, which are available through Amazon.com for $5.99 each.

The purchase of these books help the nonprofit UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation raise funds for medical grants to help children gain access to health-related services not covered, or not fully covered, by their family’s commercial health insurance plan.

Through the grant, families can receive up to $5,000 annually per child ($10,000 lifetime maximum per child), and do not need to have insurance through UnitedHealthcare to be eligible. Since 1999, the foundation has awarded thousands of medical grants totaling more than $29 million dollars.

UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation President Matt Peterson stated, “In October, we awarded our 10,000th medical grant, and the proceeds from these books will help us further our mission of helping thousands more families in the years ahead.”

The 10,000th child medical grant was awarded to Jacksonville twins Cole and Jake Tattersall, enabling the purchase of hearing aids with updated technology.

To purchase the book, visit Amazon.com. To learn more about UHCCF’s medical grants, visit www.uhccf.org.