Words of Interest

This past week was an ordinary week. I attended a levy meeting, I made bread and soup, Emily did her school work, and Bobby and I watched an episode of Border Patrol NZ on Netflix.The interesting thing about that particular episode was the use of the term busker.

Earlier in the week I had heard the term busker and had looked up the definition which turned out to be a street performer. So when the airport security guard identified a visitor as a busker, Bobby and I laughed. We went from having never heard of a busker to having heard the word twice in the same week. It's one of those instances when you learn about something and then you start noticing it everywhere.

So imagine my delight when I opened up my book for the week, Tabby McTat The Musical Cat, and the first line read, "Tabby McTat was a busker's cat." I read it to Bobby and we giggled at the coincidence.

Tabby and his busker, Fred, sing for a living. But one day when Fred is busy eating lunch, Tabby takes a walk around the block and meets a new friend, Sock. While he's visiting, something happens to Fred. When Tabby can't find Fred, he ends up moving in with Sock and her people. A part of Tabby's heart can't forget Fred, and so one day he goes looking all over town for his old friend. They eventually reunite, but Tabby is torn between his new home and life and his old life with Fred. All does end well, but in a surprising and unexpected way.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Balloons, A Drive-Thru, and A Book

This past week Valentine's Day fell on a Thursday. The night before, Wednesday, was youth church night. Now. So you understand the significance of these statements, I will give you a little background. Although a loving father and wonderful husband, Bobby doesn't usually give gifts on commercial holidays like Valentine's. But this Wednesday, he arrived a little later than usual bearing three balloons.

Since there are only Emily and I, she wondered if her father bought himself a balloon. Crazy child! The third balloon was for her bestie, Katie, who attends youth church with her every Wednesday. I almost cried. Katie lives with her single mom, who loves her very much; but she hasn't really had any father figure in her life since her Papaw passed away several years ago. This small act of kindness didn't go un-noticed either. Katie gave him a super squeezy hug before she left, something she's never really done before. And this small unexpected act of kindness reminded me why I love this guy so much.

I baked chocolate chip cookies for Bobby and Emily. Just the recipe off of the back of the Nestle Toll House Semi Sweet Chocolate Chip Bag, but boy were they tasty!

I also attended the Ohio North SCBWI Shop Talk Meeting this week. It was held at the Cuyahoga County Library Parma Branch. It was a great meeting, but the most interesting surprise for me was the Drive-thru window. I come from a small town with a small but excellent library, I have visited many other libraries, but never have I seen a library with a drive-thru. Apparently many libraries do. Who Knew?

And last but not least, I read In The Red Canoe.  In The Red Canoe tells the tale of a grandchild and a grandfather who spend an evening exploring the lake and surrounding grounds by canoe. But this story is more than a tale of exploration. It is the tale of quality time spent with a loved one. A story of discovering the world around. And a story of memories in the making.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Fourth Annual Valentiny Contest!

Hooray! February is well on its way and that means it's time for Susanna Leonard Hill's Fourth Annual Valentiny Contest. The object is to write a Valentine Story for children that is 214 words or less and has a character that feels guilty.

That's a brief amount of words in which to tell a story that has a beginning, a middle, and and end; but I persisted. So thank you Susanna for hosting this event and here's my story.

One Valentine Short (206 words)

Tabby pranced into the room tightly clutching a bag. A bag containing one valentine for each classmate.

She slipped a card into each box until she came to Janna’s. Her fingers searched the bag but came up empty. She glanced inside to be sure. 

Butterflies danced in her stomach, and she gnawed her bottom lip as she wondered what to do.

She thought about telling Janna the simple truth, but the thought made her cringe.

She thought about saying it dropped from a hole in the bag, but she knew she couldn’t lie.

She thought about hiding in the coat closet, but she hated tiny dark spaces.

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

She raced to the closet to retrieve the sucker she’d been saving for lunch. Then she grabbed some construction paper and art supplies.

Snippets of paper floated to the floor and glitter clung to every surface including her hair. But in the end, Tabby held a stunning valentine in her hand.

“That’s beautiful,” someone whispered behind her shoulder.

Tabby whirled around and handed the paper creation to Janna. “It’s for you!”

A look of joy brightened Janna’s plain pale face.

And at that moment, Tabby knew she wanted to spend recess getting to know Janna better.

Black History Month

It's Black History month! I normally read and promote people of every color all year long, but when I looked through my stack of books for review, two of them had beautiful brown girls on the cover; so it seemed appropriate to share those particular books.

The first was a board book titled In the Snow which fits both Black History month and the season since we are still in the throws of winter. It is the story of a small girl who spends the day outside enjoying the snow and snow activities with her dog. One sentence per page allows the reader and their little to take ample time discovering the details of the illustrations which are delightful.

The second was a book titled It's Great to Keep Calm. As I checked this book out, one of the librarians I am friends with told me she had recently read the book and that Keep Calm was her new mantra. In this story, Carly and her classmates are making sock puppets, and everyone takes a direction page except for her. When her sock puppet doesn't turn out as planned, she gets upset and loses her temper. But a good friend gives her advice about how to calm down and helps her make a new and proper sock puppet. This book would be a great parent and teacher resource for helping very young children deal with situations that don't turn out as expected and angry or anxious feelings.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Survival

Well, we survived the blizzard and the polar vortex that followed. We burnt a lot of wood in the process, but we were toasty warm. Thankfully we now seem to be on our way to warmer temperatures. I just hope they arrive gradually so not to cause flooding.

All this indoor time has left plenty of room for reading. Emily has been reading the second book in a  dystopian series, The Girl Who Dared To Stand, which she is loving as much as the Maze Runner Series. Now for anyone who knows Emily, this is a lot of book love. All her friends who have never read Maze Runner, intimately know the characters thanks to her. And the best part, there are seven books in the series, so she will be happy for a while!

The big surprise, however, came last week when my husband, Bobby, asked me to get the old classic, Papillon, from he library. In the fifteen years we've been married, he's read the Bible, newspapers, magazines, and online articles, but he's never asked me to get him a book. I know he read books before we married, I've just never seen him read one since.

And last but not least, I read a beginning reader titled A Cub in the Tub and a beginning chapter book titled Houndsley and Catina and Cousin Wagster. Don't you just love those funny, punny cat and dog names?

A Cub in the Tub is just what it sounds like, a sight word rhyming book like the kind I bought Emily when she was learning to read. So not only will your 3 to 5 year old enjoy seeing bear go from being dirty to clean, they will also be gaining those critical building blocks that will launch them into reading on their own.

And once they've started reading and want to move onto that I am so grown up chapter book reading phase, Houndsley and Catina and Cousin Wagster will be a perfect place to start. I mean come on, who doesn't love dog and cat stories with happy endings and subtle messages about friendship! And the really fun thing is that there are multiple Houndsley and Catina books from which to choose.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.