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The weather is crisp and the leaves are starting to change color…it must be fall! Now that we’ve made it to October, we wanted to help you plan out the month with these book recommendations and resources:
Are you looking forward to autumn? I saw an eager, yellow leaf parachuting from a tree yesterday. The apples are almost ripe for picking, and soon the pumpkins will follow. In anticipation of the refreshingly cool air, I’m reviewing a children’s book, Pumpkin Patch Blessings, today. Also, someone will receive a blessing and win a free copy of the book!
Pumpkin Patch Blessings, written by Kim Washburn and illustrated by Jacqueline East, is published by Zonderkidz.
Soft lines and colors fill this fourteen-page, board book. Children will take delight scouring the pages for illustrations of God’s creations—plants, animals, and people. On most pages, there is a dog and a bunny. Children will enjoy searching for them throughout the book.
The story centers around two children visiting a pumpkin farm. Through the story, readers” hear” the crunch of the leaves, “smell and taste” roasted corn on the cob, and “feel” the multi-textures of pumpkins. The rhyming verses recount many more sensory experiences before ending with pumpkin pies at home.
Another feature of the book I liked was the inclusion of more than one ethnic group in the book.
One additional note, two jack-o-lanterns are inserted on the last page. Nothing in the book mentions, or alludes to, Halloween or jack-o-lanterns. In fact, the whole book focuses on God’s creation. Nonetheless, two small jack-o-lanterns nestle in among the rest of the pumpkins on the last page. Some pumpkins are plain. Others have carved-out circles and shapes with light shining through.
Overall, children will enjoy this beautiful book. The rich vocabulary makes it a wonderful book for ages 4-6. The durable design and colorful illustrations provide an entertaining book for younger children as well.
Who would like to win this book?
*All you have to do is tell us what part of God’s creation do you enjoy the most during the autumn season. We will announce the winner on Sept. 2!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
0 Comments on Children's Book Review of Pumpkin Patch Blessings and a Giveaway! as of 8/26/2016 10:13:00 PM
As the growing season comes to a close on the farm, I am in awe of nature. Living close to the land and the immediacy of its rhythms and seasons, it certainly gives one a new respect for how we find and feed a nation and a world.
We are awash in apples right now. Macoun, Honey Crisp, Gala, Fuji, Golden and Red Delicious, Dandee Red and Granny Smith have been harvested, first, in woven baskets plunked up and down the rows, and later, tumbled and topped off, into larger bins.
Each time I bite into one, either unadorned, slathered with peanut butter, or baked into Gram’s apple cake recipe, I am reminded of the real life folk hero, John Chapman, affectionately known as Johnny Appleseed.
“Who Was Johnny Appleseed?” by Joan Holub from the entertaining, educational and enriching “Who Was..” series has been reviewed at The Snuggery.
But there are others that also deserve a read and a listen.
First, there is a beautifully poetic version of his life by Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and author, Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Her poem wanders through the seasons of John Chapman’s life from Leominster, Massachusetts to his death in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
It is a joyous celebration not only of the seasons of his wanderings and plantings of apple orchards ahead of settlers as they both headed west, but it also echoes the seasons and rhythms of the pioneer life and spirit in its commitment to growth, seen in the plantings and harvest of many springs, summers, falls and winters.
These apple trees were planted here
A century ago-
A hundred years of springtime bloom,
A hundred years of snow.
Images and words are wonderfully matched and caught in a timeless way in Kathy Jacobsen’s folk art paintings detailing and chronicling in a quiet way, the integrity of this man called John Chapman, who, in perhaps many ways, came to signify other pioneers that planted and harvested right alongside his wanderings.
Let your child wander too with Johnny Appleseed this fall and his pioneer families that risked and offered much to us and to each other to fuel our country’s growth.
Old Hannah Goodwin talked ofhim
In apple time each year
When the orchard came to harvest
And the air was crisp and clear.
She’d ask children to remember
And to thank the Lord indeed
For apples sharp and apples sweet
And Johnny Appleseed.
Johnny Appleseed
by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Jim Burke
Sometimes to flesh out a figure takes many points of view on the very same subject. For it is in the compilation of the sensibilities of each author’s individual mood and telling, that a truer image of a person emerges for a young reader. While details may overlap in some picture book tellings of Johnny Appleseed, I have found the more the merrier – and the better. For in each picture book tale of this remarkable man, you and your young reader will have a truer, richer, more resonant picture of John Chapman.
Famed picture book author, Jane Yolen, contributes her own take on this subject on this “individual who forever changed the landscape of America.
She concisely organizes her picture book with each page depicting a parchment-like scrolled inset, called “The History,” where she summarizes, in prose, a particular event in Johnny Appleseed’s life. And, at the bottom of the page, she inserts, “The Fact” which gives a clear, concise historically based note, that gives authenticity to her prose.
Jim Burke’s paintings fit the mood and mystery surrounding this young man that some say traveled with a mush pot atop his head, as it doubled both for a head covering and cooking utensil!
Young readers will love Jim Burke’s young, impish Johnny, sitting at a table loaded with apples, taking a big, satisfying bite of a crunchy red apple, with a warm and cozy quilt as backdrop.
As families wander through apple orchards this fall, it’s the perfect time to introduce young readers to the wanderings and wonder of this young man from Leominster, Massachusetts called Johnny Appleseed.
Is there anything more fun for a picture book writer or illustrator, a parent, a teacher, or a child then the prospect of diving into a pile of great picture books?
I didn't think so :)
Unless maybe it's the prospect of diving into a pile of great picture books with a cup of hot chocolate near to hand (though not quite near enough to get kicked over during the diving :))
It is also tons of fun to dive into a pile of autumn leaves!!!
Given the fact that I've spent the last two weeks up to my hair in Halloweensie, I'm totally cheating and recycling a book today that I posted last year. But it's an excellent book, and you won't want to miss it! Get ready to have your breath taken away by this thing of beauty! :)
Title: Leaf Man Written & Illustrated By: Lois Ehlert Harcourt, September 2005, Fiction
Opening: "Leaf Man used to live near me, in a pile of leaves. But yesterday the wind blew Leaf Man away."
Brief Synopsis: From the publisher: "Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows."
Links To Resources: Teacher's Guide(Harcourt); Lesson Plan (Scholastic); the jacket flaps of the book are covered with "mystery leaves" - pictures of the leaves with a hint about where they come from so children can try to guess/identify them; the endpapers of the book show examples of many types of leaves, pictured and labeled; go on a leaf walk and collect leaves of your own - how many different kinds can you find? how many colors and shapes?; make a leaf collage, or a pencil rubbing of a leaf, or any kind of leaf art.
Why I Like This Book: If you've spent any time at all on Perfect Picture Books, you'll know that 99.99 times out of 100, I choose books because I love the words or the story. This is one time when I chose a perfect picture book for the art. It also has a whimsical story :), but it's the art that sells this book. It's simply gorgeous. The illustrations are made from actual fall leaves. The pages are cut and layered in the shapes of hills. Each page pictures its subject made out of leaves, for example, on the page where perhaps Leaf Man flew over the turkey, there is a turkey crafted from fall leaves. The colors are vibrant, and both the story and the art allow children to fancifully imagine all that a leaf might do as it blows before the wind. The whole book sings autumn - it's just lovely!
PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you! I can't wait to see your picks for this week!
0 Comments on Perfect Picture Book Friday - Leaf Man as of 1/1/1900
There are many legends and facts surrounding the folk hero named John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed.
My blog was prompted by our apple harvest of Dandee Reds, Macoun, Honey Crisp, Gala, Fuji, Golden and Red Delicious apples.
Was this man called “Johnny Appleseed” a country dreamer that traveled in a burlap sack with a metal mush pot on his head scattering apple seeds willy nilly….or was he a whole lot more than the legend? Young readers will be very interested in a man that had a dream and a practical side that made it happen.
I wanted to delve a bit deeper into the life of this extraordinary man, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, who traveled west with settlers, as far as Indiana. And all the while, he was planting apples and creating orchards with seeds harvested from cider mills. In fact Mr. Chapman was a pretty savvy business man.
Selecting spots for his apple orchards, he fenced them in with wood from fallen trees. Thus deer and other animals were prevented from helping themselves to his trees. And, apparently he came back regularly to check on them to see how they were fairing.
And he was a sort of door to door salesman, selling his seeds and seedlings to settlers that he came upon as he headed west.
Did you know that most of his trees were wild apple trees? Honey crisp and Fuji, that we grow, and are found in local grocery stores, would have been very unlike his wild fruit variety.
Ms. Holub has done a great job of fleshing out the real John Chapman from the storybook legend. And, it seems the reality of his life was as adventurous as the legend.
Reaching into Pennsylvania and on into Ohio, he had, according to Ms. Holub’s book, an uncanny knack of figuring out the next spot that settlers would head…and arriving before them. And he planted his apple trees there.
Stories filled his head and he relayed them to settlers where he was always welcomed for a tale or two. And he always traveled barefoot! Even in the cold of winter, it was said that the skin at the bottom of his feet was so thick that it was said a rattlesnake couldn’t even bite through it. One did though, while he was clearing a new orchard. Unthinking, he killed the snake and it was said he “felt terrible about it” as he loved all living things.
A popular story said he entered a hollow log in winter to find shelter only to find a mother bear and her cubs ensconced. Rather than remove them, he preferred to sleep in the snow, so they could keep warm. Now that is hospitality!
Coffee burlap sacks were his clothing as fashion was not high on his priority list. He was a “good apple”, helping settlers that needed a hand. And did you know that he was a vegetarian? Berries, grain and potatoes cooked in a pot of pure creek water sufficed for a meal. He refused to kill animals.
He hated fighting and instead of fisticuffs, Johnny would challenge the man to a tree chopping contest. By the time they were done felling the tree, the man was probably too tired to waste much energy on anger.
By the time he died, there were 27 states and John Chapman had planted apple trees in three of them – Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.
And apples must have run in the Chapman family’s blood, as his great great great grandparents also grew them in the 1670’s.
If you want to have your young reader enjoy a fully fleshed out portrait of a man in love with nature and the apple; who has books, songs and stories written about him, and even an official Johnny Appleseed Trail in northern Massachusetts, plus a festival in his honor, then “Who Was Johnny Appleseed?” by Joan Holub is a winner.
I was sad to read that many of the trees he planted would be dead now, but seedlings from some of his trees are still growing outside the Johnny Appleseed Museum in Urbana, Ohio.
Sure would like to plant one of those in our orchard!
The entire “Who Is?” and “Who Was?” series is well worth investing in for your young reader. These are chapter books full of facts and fun stories about real people that will both entertain and enlighten. Even parents and grandparents will be charmed by the easy accessibility of information. Listed is a sampling of the more recent names featured in the books:
Mother Daughter Book Reviews is pleased to be coordinating a Book Blast for our new picture book,”The Fox and the Snowman” (November 2 to 4, 2015).
About the Book
Title: The Fox and the Snowman | Author: Angela Muse | Illustrator: Helen Wu | Publication Date: October 5, 2015 | Publisher: 4EYESBOOKS | Pages: 28 | Recommended Ages: 0 to 8
Summary: This is a story of a lone fox and his journey through a year of changing seasons. He discovers friendship and family in this colorful winter tale.
Also check out Lil Glimmer, The Nutt Family: An Acorny Adventure, The Pig Princess, The Bee Bully, Eager Eaglets: Birds of Play, Cactus Charlie, Suzy Snowflake, Monsters Have Mommies, The Christmas Owl, The Cat Who Lost His Meow, Caterpillar Shoes & Ten Thankful Turkeys by this author.
Grab a copy of the ebook, available for a limited time at the introductory price of 99 cents! (REG $2.99)
Angela Muse was born in California to a military family. This meant that she got used to being the “new kid” in school every couple of years. It was hard trying to make new friends, but Angela discovered she had a knack for writing. In high school Angela began writing poetry and song lyrics. Expressing herself through writing seemed very natural. After becoming a Mom in 2003, Angela continued her storytelling to her own children. In 2009 she wrote and published her first rhyming children’s book aimed at toddlers. Since then she has released several more children’s picture books and released her first young adult romance series, The Alpha Girls.
Angela’s husband, Ben Muse writes suspense/thriller books that can also be found on Amazon.
Prize: One winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card or $100 PayPal cash prize, winner’s choice
Giveaway ends: November 15, 11:59 pm, 2015
Open to: Internationally
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Angela Muse and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.
Our favorite season is here…autumn! We are celebrating by reducing the price on our adorable Thanksgiving book, Ten Thankful Turkeys. This colorful autumn tale follows ten turkeys as they get ready for an important celebration. This story teaches about gratitude using numbers. There are also fun turkey facts in the back of the book.
We hope you’ll gobble up this deal before it’s gone!
Here is the latest in my Celtic cross series. This one is a bit more involved, not in the intricate design on the cross itself but in the background, as you can see.
As usual I created this with a pencil and paper. The color is all done by painting on a single color layer in PhotoShop. I originally sketched the concept out last year, and spent a few evenings last week working out. The last time I spent this much time drawing leaves was when I illustrated Jairo Penaranda's book "The Little Leaf" which is available here. Like most people I enjoy fall, the bright colors in the trees. I'm especially enjoying it this year as we had such a hot dry summer here. I'm very thankful for the cooler temperatures, and the rain.
I chose simple colors, and gradations of a single color for each leaf, instead of multiple colors for the leaves. After spending a few days on the drawing I don't have the time to spend making a photo realistic painting (I've never enjoyed that style myself, why not just take a picture, and save the wear and tear on your hand and wrist?). I like to keep it simple too, it appeals to me.
This is a close-up of a portion of the pencil drawing before I colorized it in PhotoShop.
Thank you again for stopping by my blog. I hope that you enjoyed what I have shared with you here, and that you have a terrific day today, God bless. --Ryan
Autumn has arrived here in Northeastern Ohio, bringing with it crisp weather, all things pumpkin, and beautiful fall foliage. The trees are only starting to reveal their brilliant hues of orange, yellow, gold and red here, but soon I’ll awaken to a glowing landscape that seemingly exploded overnight. As this season traditionally brings many requests for fall themed library materials, as well as special fall programming, I was inspired to think of ways that technology may add further enjoyment and educational opportunities to this time.
The best way to experience the beauty of fall is to strap on your hiking shoes and venture to the nearest wooded park (or your backyard!). Bringing along your smartphone or tablet, loaded with fall foliage apps, can enhance your exploration of autumn’s beauty. Children of a variety of ages will enjoy learning more about our natural environment with these apps and websites highlighted below, although most young users not yet in elementary school may need some parent or caregiver help.
Yankee Leaf Peepr– This free app by Yankee Publishing Inc., available for Apple and Android devices, provides you with a very handy color-coded map that indicates where the leaves are changing anywhere in the United States. Users contribute to the map by posting photos and ratings of the foliage, making this app not only useful, but
Image from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ypi.leafpeepr&hl=en.
interactive. The current foliage color is determined by averaging user ratings in a geographic area.
Chimani apps- These apps, offered as free downloads on all major mobile platforms, are a really fun way to explore various National Parks. They help you with planning your trip, letting you know when Ranger-led trips occur, and more. These apps work with or without WiFi or a data signal, which is especially helpful when you are out on the trail.
LeafSnap– Once you’ve found some beautiful leaves, you may be left wondering what kind of tree they’re a part of. Make this a great learning opportunity with LeafSnap! Developed by researchers at Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute, LeafSnap helps users identify trees by allowing users to take a picture of a leaf from the tree and then providing them with the species. The app is free for iPhone and iPad, and also has a website displaying tree species. The only negative is that this is only usable for species found in the Northeastern United States and Canada.
U.S. Forest Service website and Yonder app– The U.S. Forest Service has partnered with Yonder, a free app, to help nature lovers share their adventures. The website also provides a map of fall color based on eyewitness accounts and allows users to choose their state or local forest to see specific fall foliage information. You can find weekly color updates in your state using this tool!
Foliage Network – The fall foliage prediction map on this website helps users visual the changing leaves around the United States and plan when to see the most beautiful colors in your neighborhood.
You can pair these fun apps and websites with traditional activities for a great autumn library program. How about leaf rubbing (which was recently discussed here on the blog), sharing a classic fall read-aloud such as Ehlert’s “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” and then using LeafSnap to identify the tree outside the storytime window? There are many possibilities to incorporate technology and nature into library programs and family time. What are some of your favorite hi- or low-tech autumn extension activities? ___________________________________________________________
Nicole Lee Martin is a Children’s Librarian at the Rocky River Public Library in Rocky River, OH and is writing this post for the Children and Technology Committee. You can reach her at [email protected].
celebrating my second favorite season (winter being the first, of course-snow lover here....) by having a SALE on EVERYTHING in my shop. prints, compact mirrors, original paintings and drawings are all included in that 20% off. why not do a little early Christmas (yay!!!) shopping now?! from a girl who is always ahead of the game, Christmas shopping in late September sounds very appealing....but then again shopping always sounds appealing to me. ;)
We are doing a special promotion through 9/15/15 to coincide with our favorite season. We’ve teamed up with a bunch of really cool kidlit authors to offer some great free and discounted eBooks. 4EYESBOOKS has discounted The Nutt Family: An Acorny Adventure on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks & Kobo. Chess Nutt and his sister Praline are always pretending to have crazy adventures. What happens when these two acorn siblings have an unexpected real life adventure on their own? Things get a little nutty!
Other books in this great promotion will be discounted from 9/11 – 9/15. Check them out HERE.
A longtime reader wrote to ask if everything’s okay. He was concerned because I post here so rarely.
Everything is okay! My stepdaughter, Autumn, turned twenty-one! Often I still think of her as the little waving girl in the photo above. But she is an astounding young woman, a clear and compassionate thinker, a poet, a gift, my only child. Also, my goddaughter and her mom moved away. I miss them tons. And my cats died, a few months apart. Oof, as my friend Carrie says. That was sad.
After Emily’s death in July, we got Florian to keep Percy company, and then after Percy’s death in November we didn’t want Florian to be alone, so we got Wanda. They’re great — we’re so comforted by their companionship and antics — but losing pets is as awful as Laurie Anderson says. I actually got Emily after I lost my dog, Ripley, back in 1997. After Emily’s death, I finally felt ready to have a dog again, but our coop doesn’t allow them. Neither, for that matter, did Percy.
Right now there’s a blizzard outside. I’m drinking water and tea and working on my book, which is usually what I’m doing, unless I haven’t refilled the water and tea recently.
The manuscript is due in 2016, and I asked for regular installment deadlines with my editor to keep myself on task, and I’m so busy writing that I actually got excited when an app I use to keep myself from wasting time online malfunctioned for a few weeks. It cut off my access to half the Internet, including this very site. I’m also working on a related profile-essay thing that’s taking me a long time to finish to my satisfaction, and I’m very excited about it. And I’ve been doing a lot of weird, wide-rangingreading, which I’m sure will all be reflected in my book, if you’ve missed my meandering fixations.
Is there anything more fun for a picture book writer or illustrator, a parent, a teacher, or a child then the prospect of diving into a pile of great picture books?
I didn't think so :)
Unless maybe it's the prospect of diving into a pile of great picture books with a cup of hot chocolate near to hand (though not quite near enough to get kicked over during the diving :))
I have a gorgeous book to share with you today. Get ready to have your breath taken away by this thing of beauty! :)
Title: Leaf Man Written & Illustrated By: Lois Ehlert Harcourt, September 2005, Fiction
Opening: "Leaf Man used to live near me, in a pile of leaves. But yesterday the wind blew Leaf Man away."
Brief Synopsis: From the publisher: "Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows."
Links To Resources: Teacher's Guide(Harcourt); Lesson Plan (Scholastic); the jacket flaps of the book are covered with "mystery leaves" - pictures of the leaves with a hint about where they come from so children can try to guess/identify them; the endpapers of the book show examples of many types of leaves, pictured and labeled; go on a leaf walk and collect leaves of your own - how many different kinds can you find? how many colors and shapes?; make a leaf collage, or a pencil rubbing of a leaf, or any kind of leaf art.
Why I Like This Book: If you've spent any time at all on Perfect Picture Books, you'll know that 99.99 times out of 100, I choose books because I love the words or the story. This is one time when I chose a perfect picture book for the art. It also has a whimsical story :), but it's the art that sells this book. It's simply gorgeous. The illustrations are made from actual fall leaves. The pages are cut and layered in the shapes of hills. Each page pictures its subject made out of leaves, for example, on the page where perhaps Leaf Man flew over the turkey, there is a turkey crafted from fall leaves. The colors are vibrant, and both the story and the art allow children to fancifully imagine all that a leaf might do as it blows before the wind. The whole book sings autumn - it's just lovely!
PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you! I can't wait to see your picks for this week!
With Thanksgiving coming along in less than a week, are you hosting or visiting? Which do you prefer? I'm hosting this year, but I'm really happy to do either... as long as I don't have to travel too far :)
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! :)
0 Comments on Perfect Picture Book Friday - Leaf Man as of 11/21/2014 3:52:00 AM
10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston & illustrated by Rich Deas “Looky!” says a silly turkey swinging from a vine. Gobble gobble wibble wobble. Whoops! Now there are nine.” Girls and boys will gobble up this hilarious counting story about ten goofy turkeys roller-skating on a fence, doing a noodle dance, and more! Give …
Worked on some fun sketches all week and I can’t wait to share the finals with you!
The hubby and I took a quick trip to Vegas last week. Although it was mostly a business trip rather than a pleasure trip, we managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun in between our chaotic schedules. I’ve never been to Vegas in the fall..I hadn’t realized how enchanting this place can be. If you get a chance to go this fall I highly recommend it. The weather seems great this time of the year.
This is pretty much what I saw all of last week..I’m not complaining!!
Almost 20 years ago, we lived in a neighborhood with a magnificent gingko tree at the end of our street. It stood, not in a yard, but in front of an industrial business. One autumn morning, when I was out early walking the dog, I found the tree, which had been full of yellow light just the day before, a skeleton of bare branches with a perfect circle of yellow leaves on the ground underneath it. I went home and wrote this story.
* * * * *
In the Way Back, in the time of naming things, Earth Woman lived beside the Gingko Tree.
During the Hot Time, its fan-shaped leaves cooled her all through her working days.
As the nights grew chilly and the days shortened, Earth Woman was more and more thankful for the warmth of her fire.
One morning, Earth Woman noticed that the tree who had fanned her in the Hot Time had turned the bright yellow of the flames of her fire. Even though the tree gave off no heat, its yellow light warmed her all through her working days.
Soon there came a night of sharp frost, and the day that followed was no warmer. The Cold Time had stopped teasing and had finally arrived.
Earth Woman sat in the yellow light of the Gingko Tree and pulled her blankets more tightly around her on that first morning of the Cold Time. She turned her thoughts back to the Hot Time and thanked the Spirits for all of the particular joys of that time. Then she said goodbye to those memories as she prepared to embrace each of the particular joys of the Cold Time.
As she began releasing her memories, she heard a faint rustling around her and felt light kisses on her head and shoulders and knees. She opened her eyes for a moment and saw that the Gingko was also releasing its memories in a steady flutter of leaves -- the yellow light, like shattered rays of sun or individual flames of fire, was leaving the tree to join Earth Woman on the ground.
Earth Woman smiled, closed her eyes, and resumed her goodbyes.
When she opened her eyes again, the tree was bare and she sat in a pool of fallen light. Her memories of the Hot Time had all been released and she was ready to accept this first memory of the Cold Time. She looked around at the fallen leaves, the fallen light, and she named her first memory of the Cold Time.
She named it Fall.
* * * * *
On Sunday, we biked through our old neighborhood and then south for an hour in the glorious autumn sunshine. The gingko tree is still there, and so is the ghost of Earth Woman.
0 Comments on Slice of Life: Lost and Found Writing as of 1/1/1900
Title: Ten Thankful Turkeys | Author: Angela Muse | Illustrator: Ewa Podleś | Publication Date: October 4, 2014 | Publisher: 4EYESBOOKS | Pages: 32 | Recommended Ages: 2 to 8 Summary: This colorful autumn tale follows ten turkeys as they get ready for an important celebration. This story teaches about gratitude. There are also fun turkey facts in the back of the book.
Kindle version available for only 99 cents from Amazon on October 24 & 25, 2014. Grab your copy now!!
Angela Muse was born in California to a military family. This meant that she got used to being the “new kid” in school every couple of years. It was hard trying to make new friends, but Angela discovered she had a knack for writing. In high school Angela began writing poetry and song lyrics. Expressing herself through writing seemed very natural. After becoming a Mom in 2003, Angela continued her storytelling to her own children. In 2009 she wrote and published her first rhyming children’s book aimed at toddlers. Since then she has released several more children’s picture books and released books in her first young adult romance series, The Alpha Girls, in 2013/2014. Her husband, Ben Muse writes suspense/thriller books that can also be found on Amazon.
Prize: One winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest closes: November 23, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open to: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the Angela Muse and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway
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You make the best “storyboards” ever! I just love your visual meanderings.
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