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I just published my second children’s book on Amazon!

Florence the Fashionable Flamingo

What’s the fashionable flamingo to do when her feet get cold in the water? Join Florence the flamingo as she tries different solutions until she solves her problem.

Florence the Fashionable Flamingo uses alliteration. Many of the key words begin with the “F” sound. This makes the story fun to read and especially fun to listen to.

Facts about flamingos are woven into the story. They are pink, have long legs and long necks, and eat shrimp. They stand in the water, often on one leg. A flock of flamingos is called a flamboyance.

An element of fantasy is present in flamingos that dress in flowers and wear boots; flamingos that talk with each other; and flamingos that solve problems.

This book is appropriate for boys or girls, but may appeal to girls more because playing dress up is a central theme.

Florence the Fashionable Flamingo has an uncluttered art style which helps young children to focus. This book features nature scenes including birds, flowers, plants, and aquatic life such as shrimp, fish, and crabs.

BONUS: There’s a small crab on each page. Can you find it?

Key Vocabulary Words

Florence

Flamingo

Pink

Neck

Dress up

Fancy

Flowers

Fine

Fashionable

Flock

Flamboyance

Bright

Flame

Food

Shrimp

Cold

Land

Butterflies

Hungry

Idea

Boots

Fantastic

Fabulous

Concepts for Possible Discussion

Problem solving:  What is Florence’s problem? Was staying on land a good solution to Florence’s problem? What was the best solution?

Using Imagination:  Do you think Florence’s love of dressing up helped her to think of wearing boots? Do you like to play dress up?

Adventures in Dinosaur Land

Join Eva and her younger brother Hudson as they play in Dinosaur Land, hide from big and loud dinosaurs, are saved from their dangerous hiding place during a volcanic eruption, and learn that dinosaurs aren’t scary after all!

Adventures in Dinosaur Land features adorable watercolor pictures. The uncluttered art style makes it easy for young children to focus.

Children from two to five-years-old will enjoy having this book read to them. Children who are starting to read, up through age eight, will enjoy reading Adventures in Dinosaur Land. This book is appropriate for boys or girls. Both are depicted in the story.

An element of fantasy is present in dinosaurs who recognize the children are in danger and rescue them, dinosaurs that can fly, and dinosaurs that play with children.

The text is concise and understandable. Key vocabulary words include:

• adventures
• dinosaur             
• earth
• loud                      
• roar
• afraid                   
• hide
• mountain           
• smoke
• fire                        
• volcano
• dangerous         
• safety
• friends

Concepts for possible discussion with your child include:

• Some things that are scary may not be dangerous.
• What are you afraid of?
• Is fear good or bad?
• Should you hide when you are afraid?
• Should you hide when there is danger?
• Why were Eva and Hudson not safe when hiding from the volcano?
• Is there anyone you are afraid of who may become your friend?
• It is still important to remember some people are not good.
• An older sibling takes responsibility for her younger brother.
• Sibling relationships can be close. These children play together and sometimes hold hands.

#BethBirdBooks #ChildrensBooks #DinosaurBooks #WritingCommunity #GoodMorals

The true story of Kim Phuc Phan Thi is mesmerizing. Captured in an iconic photo running burned and naked from a napalm bombing during the Vietnam War, Kim became known as the “Napalm Girl”.

Before the war, Kim’s family was well-to-do, and Kim was bright, studious, fun-loving, and even mischievous. That began to change as soldiers ravished the land and the family’s belongings. Everything changed forever for Kim at 9-years-old when the fiery napalm burned her back and left arm. Pain became Kim’s ever present companion.

Kim realized that people treated her differently once she was so scarred. Kim believed she was unlovable and would never marry. She poured herself into her studies and devotion to the many gods her family worshiped. She thought perhaps her life could have meaning if she became a pediatrician and she was able to help others.

Her studies were repeatedly interrupted when the government took her out of class for propaganda tours. She was famous because of the photograph, and reporters from across the globe wanted to know what had become of the Napalm Girl. However her government translators told the journalists lies, even making up a story that she was now married and the mother of a child. Kim fell so far behind in school she was forced to withdraw. She became despondent and contemplated suicide.

One day while hiding in the library from government officials who she knew would come to take her on another propaganda tour, she found a Christian Bible. Kim’s troubles did not end when she turned to the Christian God, but in fact became worse because her family forsook her. Kim had no one but God to turn to for help.

Read Fire Road to see if Kim stays with her new religion or goes back to the ways of her family. Does the hatred and unforgiveness that rages in Kim consume her?
The language is a little stilted since English is not Kim’s native language. I also believe the book could be improved by editing and condensing. Nevertheless it is a worthy read or listen.

#FireRoad #NapalmGirl #VietnamWar @TyndaleMomentum

I’m trying to make the best use of my governor’s executive order for citizens to “Stay at home.” One of the things I’m working on is my backlogged To Read List. I picked a two-book series by Francine Rivers, Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream, Marta’s Legacy.

This series begins in Switzerland before WW I, at a time when women were often abused and treated as slaves. This was the case in Marta’s family, where she was singled out to receive worse treatment than the other girls because of her plain looks.

Although Marta’s father beat her and forced her to work long hours, keeping all the money for himself, her mother encouraged her to look for God’s plan for her life, even in her negative circumstances. Her mother’s support gave Marta the courage to better herself so she could achieve her dreams.

After Marta’s father allowed her timid sister to be abused sexually, Marta despised timidity and later did all in her power to eradicate that trait in her own children. This caused a rift between Marta and her timid second-born, Hildamara, with Hildamara believing she wasn’t loved by her mother. Due to Hildamara’s poor health and other circumstances, Marta’s relationship with Hildamara’s daughter Carolyn became quite strong.

As time passed and Carolyn became a mother, certain patterns repeated themselves: misunderstanding between mother and daughter, feelings of being unloved, and an abnormal closeness between granddaughter and grandmother. Francine Rivers is a master at conveying the emotions that surface in the events that build the scaffolding of time, as granddaughters become mothers and grandmothers.

This series follows five generations of women caught in this painful cycle, and one daughter’s desperate attempt to break the pattern, even though she could lose her life while trying.

Francine Rivers is releasing updated covers for this series next week!

As an Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.

@TyndaleHouse @FrancineRivers #ChristianFiction #HistoricalFiction #BreakingGenerationalCurses #Godisable #HopesandDreams #MartasLegacy

This isn’t a new book, and it has been on my To Read List for a long time. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it.

I’m not usually a fan of the fantasy genre. This book falls into that category, but there’s no pigen-holing it. It has a Christian slant, and maybe a bit of mystery. It’s about relationships and priorities and choices and success and failure. One definitive thing I can say about it: it’s a great book!

The twists and turns kept me engaged right up until the last page. There’s no fairy tale ending. The author takes a realistic approach to solve the main character’s dilemmas.

Perhaps best of all, this book may set you thinking about the choices and priorities and relationships in your own life. Please consider giving this a read.

As an Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.

@jameslrubart @HarperCollins @ThomasNelson #dreams #dearyoungerme #BlackFedora

Gary Chapman reviews the Five Love Languages for the uninitiated. Chapman provides a test so the reader can determine which love language(s) they possess. He admits that he does not have a special-needs child, although he has counseled many families in that situation.

To provide a more hands-on point of view, Jolene Philo co-authors this book with Chapman. Philo and her husband are the parents of a special needs child. Philo is also an educator and an author of several books for those dealing with special-needs children.

The chapters alternate with first Chapman, then Philo writing. After a bit of an introduction, they go into ways and examples of using the five love languages in special-needs children. This book is practical and even inspiring, showing what the right love language at the right time can do to make a difficult situation better.

As an Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.

@DrGaryChapman @jolenephilo @MoodyPublishers #NorthfieldPublishing #specialneeds #5LoveLanguages

The User Manual for the WSTA Portable Ozone Generator Air Purifier,600mg/h Multipurpose Ozone Machine has instructions for turning on the machine and setting the timer. The timer can be set in five minute increments, up to one hour.

Not all of the parts are identified or explained. There are two plastic tubes with a hard, round end. One of the ends is white. The end on the other tube is grey. None of this is explained. The plastic tubing with the white end arrived bent and crimped, so I’m not sure how well it works.

A short paragraph with the cryptic title “Ozone disinfectant degradation” has equally difficult-to-understand wording about oxygen bubbles.  

There are no safety warnings.

I detected an odor immediately upon plugging in this device. Many sources advise that if you can smell ozone, it has reached a harmful level and you should turn it off.

Manufacturers of ozone generators will market their products with words like purifier, therapeutic, medical grade, and decontaminate to give the idea that their machines are not harmful. This is far from the truth.

Ozone is a toxic gas. Molecularly it is like oxygen, except it has an additional, third oxygen atom, making it more unstable.

Even in small amounts ozone can damage the lungs causing coughing; chest pain; shortness of breath; eye, nose and throat irritation; and making it more difficult to fight infection. These symptoms can be even worse in people with underlying respiratory conditions such as asthma or COPD.

Recovery may be possible if exposure was brief. More exposure and at higher levels can cause permanent damage.

According the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants.”

In other words, ozone will not kill COVID-19, a stomach bug, the common cold, or mold forming on food, unless possibly, you blast these things beyond public health standards. You may have to ramp up the ozone five to ten times the accepted standards to achieve decontamination. Even then, any nefarious contaminant lodged in a porous surface may not be affected.

It would be counterproductive to use an ozone generator to try to purify the air. As stated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “To generate enough ozone to be potentially effective, the ozone equipment would have to produce dangerous amounts of ozone.”

An air purifier with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is an alternative to the harmful ozone generator. HEPA filters trap particles like dust mites, tobacco smoke, and pet dander. They can make breathing easier, especially if you have respiratory problems, but they do not eliminate bacteria or viruses.

I use the MOOKA True HEPA+ Air Purifier, and I am pleased with it, although I don’t agree with the claims it makes to remove viruses. I believe it does make my indoor air cleaner.

Roxane Gay is brilliant and articulate. Early in the book I felt a great pity for her because of the event that she suffered as a 12-year-old girl which greatly contributed to her weight problem.
But the book is about so much more than that, and it is heavily stuffed with Gay’s strong opinions. I don’t deny her right to these opinions, some of which seem almost militant.
Her worldview is a little skewed from the point of a fat person’s eyes, glaring, almost daring someone to slight her on that basis.
She recounts an event she participated in with Gloria Steinem in which the sign language interpreter blocked the audience’s view of Gay and Steinem. As the audience complained, the sign language interpreter sought to reposition herself but Gay told her not to move. This was supposedly such a wonderful thing Gay did for the hearing impaired audience members.
What happened to the rights of the rest of the people in the audience, whose experience was diminished because they were not able to see these keynote speakers? Couldn’t a way be found to accommodate the small minority as well as the larger audience? Why do small minorities need special rights to the detriment of the larger population? THIS seems to be an unfortunate trend in our society.
A lot of issues are discussed in this book, but because I do not mention one here please do not think I do not care about rape, or eating disorders, etc.

#obesity #overcomer @HarperPerennial @rgay

Jeremy Camp didn’t live the good “church kid” life growing up. Although his dad was a pastor and he knew all about Jesus and the Christian life, Camp actually lived a double life. A popular football-playing jock, Camp drank with his friends but hid it from his parents. Camp realized the dichotomy of his life while attending a retreat. There he made a commitment to live for Jesus.

This commitment played itself out in Camp giving up football during his senior year, even though he was a star player with a shot at a scholarship. Camp made some tough choices which took him to Bible School and affected his dating life. When he met a like-minded lady, he knew she was the one for him.

Not everything went as planned for Camp, that is, as Camp had planned. But the bigger theme behind Camp’s story is learning to follow God’s plan, not only when it differs from your own, but also when your pain is so great you don’t know how you will survive. It was during just such a time Camp wrote his well known song, I Still Believe.

Camp isn’t perfect, but his attempt and desire to be faithful to God’s leading is inspiring. This is especially true as his life progresses, and we see the faith required for him to continue to trust God after he experiences bewildering disappointment. Camp’s story is soon to be a movie, also called, I Still Believe.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

@HarperCollins @jeremycamp #teambelieve #LionsGate #Istillbelieve

An active mother playing tag with her daughter and some other children is suddenly paralyzed by a freak playground accident. Where I End: A Story of Tragedy, Truth, and Rebellious Hope isn’t just another story of misfortune told from a Christian perspective.

This story is well told, and the accompanying theology is well-considered. This is a story of hope that didn’t die in the face of a “Christopher Reeve-level injury”, an irrevocable medical prognosis, and the pitying look she got when that hope was displayed. This is the story of a four-year-old daughter asking her dad if it was okay to pray for mom to walk again, because she had heard the doctors say that her mom never would.

Clark is honest about the internal struggles she faced in her journey. Clark shares her concerns about what her children’s memories will be, and how she sobbed after her first-grader offhandedly called her a “quad”. She discusses the feelings she had when she unexpectedly saw the boy who caused her accident receive an award at school.

I found this book inspirational, not only reading about the miraculous work of God, but also in considering Clark’s attitude and perseverance. I do not envision myself as having the strength to fight through physical therapy, as she did. My own inclination would be toward heaven. Clark’s healing isn’t yet complete, but God has chosen to give back more mobility than the doctors said she would ever possess.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

@MBIChicago @MoodyPublishers #KatherineElizabethClark #WhereIEnd #Grief #Tetraplegia #Memoir