Please help me welcome my newest book, the board book Little Illinois.
The book’s lively illustrations are courtesy of wildlife artist Michael Glenn Monroe.It’s the latest entry in Sleeping Bear Press’ Little State series.
Each Little book in the series shares 10 rhyming riddles that introduce the very youngest of readers to a particular state’s symbols and identifying features. Brightly-painted clues frame each riddle.
I’ve been smiling-smiling-smiling since Sleeping Bear Press invited me to write the Illinois entry for this series.
Forgive the pun, but little did my publisher and editor know: I’ve been preparing for this moment since I was 9 years old!
My state, when my fifth grade teacher Miss Smiley (I swear that was her name!) assigned each of us a U.S. state, oh, so long ago, Alaska and Hawaii were relatively new? Illinois, the Land of Lincoln!
I used my very best penmanship to write my perfectly formatted business letter to The State of Illinois, Springfield, Illinois, requesting materials to share with my class.
I can still remember waiting at the top of my Philadelphia home’s steps, hoping my mailman's worn brown leather bag held my package.
Once my Illinois-postmarked manila envelope arrived, I read the colorful pamphlets, memorized the state symbols, the state capital, the largest city, the crops and famous Presidents, then shared my information with my classmates.
Miss Smiley awarded me an A for my presentation. :)
O, the joy I had writing L
1 Comments on Little Illinois: You Put Me In A Happy State!, last added: 5/12/2011
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Congratulations, Esther. LITTLE ILLINOIS sounds like a terrific little book. :-)