Sherrill S. Cannon’s latest children’s book ‘My Fingerpaint Masterpiece’ is done in rhyme as her previous books, Manner-Man, Gimme-Jimmy, The Magic Word, Peter, Whimper-Whineys, and Santa’s Birthday Gift. GTMA Review has called her, ‘a modern day Dr. Seuss.’ She is a former teacher who has won eighteen awards for her five previous rhyming books along with seven published and internationally performed plays for elementary school children.

All of her books have been part of a fundraiser for the CureJM Foundation for over a year – 50 percent of the price of the books goes to the CureJM Foundation. JM = Juvenile Myositis, an incurable children’s disease. The site for that is found on her Cure JM website.

Breaking news is that she is also in the process of creating the same kind of fundraiser for the imbullyfree.org non-profit group, helping to prevent bullying. My “Manners” books (The Magic Word, Gimme-Jimmy and Manner-Man) fit right into that niche!! The new site announced today will be her new website against bullying.

This delightful book, ‘My Fingerpaint Masterpiece,’ is very much a story with a message for young and old alike. A budding young artist sits in art class dipping her fingers into a bowl of paint and, ‘drew on the paper my very best scene.’ But as she walked home from school the wind took the paper from her. It flew away. The young artist had never finished it! How could they know it was to be her very special scene? A week later she sees it at a store. It was found and displayed in an art gallery where it won first prize!

Finally, as everyone described what they saw in the painting, our young painter shouted: ‘It’s my painting that you all are raving about!’ They just ignored her and said: ‘You’re only a child telling stories, I fear.’ It is easy to dismiss a child or anyone that it is only a story? Are children not to be believed because they are young?

It is very difficult to believe, to have trust and faith in the human spirit. Is it we do not trust ourselves? Do we not believe? Perhaps mistrust and inability to believe in a gift from the colors of the Universe are the mystery that we do not understand. Perhaps it is found in the heart?

Another beautifully written book it is a masterpiece in belief. With simple hopeful colors from the rainbow swirling throughout the book from KJ and her team of artists at Kalpart it brings the story alive visually.

As her new endeavor to help prevent bullying takes off this week, I had an opportunity to interview Sherrill S. Cannon and get her insight on writing books for children. Part Two will be the full interview with the award winning author, Sherrill S. Cannon. Her books can be found on the websites of Amazon, Barnes and Noble and her website.