In The NoCo

How this Loveland kindergarten teacher’s positive outlook on life is written into her children’s books

By In The NoCo,

Published September 2, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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A book titled Awesome of the Day has an illustration of two children riding bikes through a puddle. — Ellen Javernick is a popular children's book author and kindergarten teacher. She just published her latest book, *Awesome of the Day*, in which a boy learns to recognize the good parts of every day.

Kindergarten teacher Ellen Javernick has published over twenty illustrated children’s books. The Loveland resident’s first book, What If Everybody Did That? has sold more than a million copies.

She just published her newest book titled Awesome of the Day. It tells the story of a boy named Andrew who has one bad day after the next – until he learns to change his outlook.

Ellen teaches at Garfield Elementary School in Loveland. She says she wants her books to inspire positive behavior in kids without getting overly sappy.

She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about what inspired her newest book, and how – at age 87 – she continues to find energy that matches that of her young students.

An illustration shows a boy laying on his bed, looking up at stars that hang from his ceiling.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s news program and podcast In The NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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