Retired Plainview Teacher Publishes First Children's Book

PLAINVIEW, NY — Joel Rauch's philosophy is that it's never too late to do the things you've always wanted to do. That's why, at 72, the Plainview resident decided to finally write and publish his first children's book.

The book, "What Would I Be?" is a story about making choices, self esteem and self worth. It was inspired by Rauch's grandchildren, who he babysits every day.

"I wanted to write a children's book, but it was never the right time," Rauch said. "Now [with COVID] it was the right time."

Rauch is a former teacher, with years of experience with students. He taught for four years in Corona, Queens before he was laid off by the city. From there, he started working in Manhattan as a sales executive. But after 25 years of that, he said he had enough. He went back to teaching, and wound up at the same school — and the exact same classroom — he had left years before.

He continued teaching for another nine years, and then retired to start watching his first granddaughter.

Books aren't the only thing Rauch writes. He's a lyricist for his friend's band, which is actually where "What Would I Be?" was born. The book, he said, started as a song. But it didn't really work as a song.

When Rauch started to write the book, he connected with Bridget Bick on a Plainview Facebook group. Now residing in Rhode Island, Bick said she had always wanted to be an illustrator, despite the fact that she is legally blind.

Rauch would send her pages he had written, and she would create illustrations for them and send them back to him. The two worked like that to get the whole book written and illustrated.

All of Rauch's proceeds from the book are being donated. He said he doesn't need the money, so he decided to donate it to the Mid-Island Y JCC in Plainview, where he teaches pickleball classes.

"I know from the pandemic they were in dire straights. So why not?" he said. "It's my home town. Why shouldn't I donate something to my home town?"

Rauch said that he and Bick are already working on a second book called "What Do You Get?" That book should be out later this year. And he has two other books already written, but no idea when they may be published.

You can order "What Would I Be?" on Amazon.