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A friend frequently asks me, "Mary Emma, when are you finishing your Uncle Buffalo Bill book? Have you finished the Sarah Jane picture book?"
I grin sheepishly and say, "I'm working on them."
In 2008, I must stop only working on them and finish these projects!
1. Finish the book about my Uncle Buffalo Bill Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill in the West.
2. Finish my Sarah Jane's Daring Deed picture book.
3. Finish the rough draft of Papa Goes to War, a Civil War era middle reader book based on my ancestors.
4. Develop the activities for these books and place them on my web sites.
5. Draft some of my other writing projects, but concentrate on them minimally until I have the above finished.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
HOLLY FRETWELL's "Different" VIEW ON GLOBAL WARMING
With all the scary information out there about global warming, it's refreshing to read a book by a natural resources policy expert that presents a different view, one complete with common sense and factual information.
The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) is an alternative for young people and adults to the fear-inducing books published today. Author Holly Fretwell, a mother of two and professor of natural resources policy, provides a balanced look at environmental issues and global warming scare tactics. She presents these in an easy to read and understand format for ages 8 and above.
Yes, there are environmental situations to be concerned about, but Ms. Fretwell encourages optimism about the future of our planet and the solutions we can find with human innovation and creativity, along with individual choice, not political agendas.Ms. Fretwell debunks some of the "facts" running rampant about the environment and global warming in today's world.
For instance, you've probably seen the picture of the polar bear and cub, supposedly adrift on a piece of ice because of global warming. Actually the picture was taken as a general interest one a scientific expedition. The photographer called attention to it as a polar bear and her cub on an ice sculpture. Nothing was noted about global warming nor the bears being stranded. Yet the photo was taken out of context and used for propaganda purposes.
You'll certainly want to take a look at the facts in this book about global warming and see what's really going on in a world beset by global warming scare. Check out the truth before deciding "the sky is falling."
(Published by World Ahead Media, Los Angeles, CA.; ISBN #9780976726944. The book includes fun facts and reading for ages 8 and above.)
The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) is an alternative for young people and adults to the fear-inducing books published today. Author Holly Fretwell, a mother of two and professor of natural resources policy, provides a balanced look at environmental issues and global warming scare tactics. She presents these in an easy to read and understand format for ages 8 and above.
Yes, there are environmental situations to be concerned about, but Ms. Fretwell encourages optimism about the future of our planet and the solutions we can find with human innovation and creativity, along with individual choice, not political agendas.Ms. Fretwell debunks some of the "facts" running rampant about the environment and global warming in today's world.
For instance, you've probably seen the picture of the polar bear and cub, supposedly adrift on a piece of ice because of global warming. Actually the picture was taken as a general interest one a scientific expedition. The photographer called attention to it as a polar bear and her cub on an ice sculpture. Nothing was noted about global warming nor the bears being stranded. Yet the photo was taken out of context and used for propaganda purposes.
You'll certainly want to take a look at the facts in this book about global warming and see what's really going on in a world beset by global warming scare. Check out the truth before deciding "the sky is falling."
(Published by World Ahead Media, Los Angeles, CA.; ISBN #9780976726944. The book includes fun facts and reading for ages 8 and above.)
Saturday, December 1, 2007
THE TRADITION OF BEDTIME STORIES
Bedtime stories have been a tradition for at least three generations in my family. I recall my mom reading to my sister, brothers and me...Heidi, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses poetry, and Robinson Crusoe come to mind.
My husband and I took turns reading to our daughter. He often didn't at bedtime, but while I was preparing supper. "Daddy, you skipped that part!" I'd hear her exclaim when Jim tried to get through a book more quickly.
My daughter and son-in-law, both avid readers, started reading to their children while they were infants. Reading and children go hand in hand in our household...we all still bury ourselves in a book whenever we can in spite of today's electronic world.
Stories in the Kitchen
Although most of the bedtime story reading of my youth occurred in the evening in one of our bedrooms (there were four of us children) as we sprawled on the bed. However, on cold winter evenings, Mother gathered us in front of the wood burning cookstove in the kitchen (a favorite family congregating place) and read stories. While she read, we might munch on cookies and milk or cocoa.
Reading evolves into cooking, as children learn to ponder over recipes and mix up family meals. I recall making my first cake before I fully learned to read. Mother was ill and I decided, with the help of my younger siblings, I would make a cake for supper, along with fried potatoes and eggs.
At six years old, I couldn't decipher everything in the recipe book, so decided to dispense with it and put together the ingredients I'd seen Mother use. I recall my sister and brothers around me as we stirred the batter together, then poured it into layer cake pans.
Since the wood stove oven was the only one we had, it was only natural to bake the cake there. We must have stoked the stove and read the gauge on the front of the oven door adequately. At any rate, the cake turned out fine....except it was fairly flat.
Mother, when she saw it at supper, praised our efforts, as did Father and the hired man. It was only in later years that Mother told me she concluded I'd left out the baking powder.
(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen
(I enjoy researching and writing about holiday and family memories along with teaching classes in Family History Writing. I conduct these classes online and in person.)
My husband and I took turns reading to our daughter. He often didn't at bedtime, but while I was preparing supper. "Daddy, you skipped that part!" I'd hear her exclaim when Jim tried to get through a book more quickly.
My daughter and son-in-law, both avid readers, started reading to their children while they were infants. Reading and children go hand in hand in our household...we all still bury ourselves in a book whenever we can in spite of today's electronic world.
Stories in the Kitchen
Although most of the bedtime story reading of my youth occurred in the evening in one of our bedrooms (there were four of us children) as we sprawled on the bed. However, on cold winter evenings, Mother gathered us in front of the wood burning cookstove in the kitchen (a favorite family congregating place) and read stories. While she read, we might munch on cookies and milk or cocoa.
Reading evolves into cooking, as children learn to ponder over recipes and mix up family meals. I recall making my first cake before I fully learned to read. Mother was ill and I decided, with the help of my younger siblings, I would make a cake for supper, along with fried potatoes and eggs.
At six years old, I couldn't decipher everything in the recipe book, so decided to dispense with it and put together the ingredients I'd seen Mother use. I recall my sister and brothers around me as we stirred the batter together, then poured it into layer cake pans.
Since the wood stove oven was the only one we had, it was only natural to bake the cake there. We must have stoked the stove and read the gauge on the front of the oven door adequately. At any rate, the cake turned out fine....except it was fairly flat.
Mother, when she saw it at supper, praised our efforts, as did Father and the hired man. It was only in later years that Mother told me she concluded I'd left out the baking powder.
(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen
(I enjoy researching and writing about holiday and family memories along with teaching classes in Family History Writing. I conduct these classes online and in person.)
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