Book Review - My Kiss Won't Miss

My Kiss Won’t Miss

By: Lesley Dahlseng
Illustrated By: Mirela Tufan
Publisher: Whetword Press, LLC
Publication Date: November 2014
ISBN: 978-0615987040
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Reviewed on: February 4, 2015

There is such a wealth of beauty and love filtered through this tale, that it becomes one of those books (one of those rare books) that will appear on parents’ shelves all over the globe. There are very few titles that parents can recite off the top of their heads (example: Goodnight Moon), and My Kiss Won’t Miss now joins those elite titles as being a ‘must-have’ and a ‘must-read’ for children everywhere.

In this journey, the spotlight shines on the absolute, unconditional love a mother has for her child. This begins with an evening like all moms can attest to having, where a child simply does not want to go to sleep, and to avoid the process of bedtime, finds hiding places in order to stay up longer. In this tale, Mom delivers a promise to the child that if she can’t reach her son to give him a kiss (because he’s hiding), then she will blow a kiss that will find him no matter where he happens to be. In other words, her love will NEVER miss.

From beds of flowers to haystacks (that are stunningly illustrated, by the way), the mother’s kiss blows like a soft breeze through every page, following the little boy through his adventures. But it’s not only the boy’s own realm that is shown, the adventures continue throughout the boy’s dreams where the reader meets up with other children resting in peaceful locations around the world. From the warm desert to the big, blue ocean where a shell is the bed of choice, Mom’s softly colored kiss always and forever moves forward across each page, proving that Mom will never give up.

The book also involves yet another special, unconditional kiss that is sent down to the sleeping boy from far above in Heaven. It is that never-ending kiss that is granted from the Lord who created and watches over each child resting in every beautiful location across the mighty universe.

Yes, this is a simple tale, yet a timeless one. And if there is one thing children need in this society today, it is to own the knowledge that they are never alone; that the kiss of kindness and love from the people and Our Lord who watches over them, is always there no matter what life brings. The illustrations are truly magical, and the brightness of the colors and sweet-looking characters will have kids shouting for THIS to be the tale told every night…before heading off to sleep to have their own adventures.

Quill says: People ask how a classic is made. Well…this author and illustrator most certainly found the perfect blend of magic words and unforgettable pictures to become one.

For more information on My Kiss Won't Miss, please visit the author's website at: lesleydahlseng.com

Books In For Review

Another nice batch of books have just arrived for review.  Check them out!





The Curse of Anne Boleyn by C. C. Humphreys Description not yet available.  

The Little Parrot and the Angel's Tears by M. Anu Narasimhan The little parrot is very small. Hes smaller than his friend the elephant. Hes smaller than his friend the deer. Hes even smaller than his friend the rabbit. But when his friends and home are in danger, the little parrot decides he has to do something to help. Find out if the little parrot can save them from a big problem.  

White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra In a district of the city of Harbin, a haven for White Russian families since Russia’s Communist Revolution, Alina Kozlova must make a heartbreaking decision if her only child, Anya, is to survive the final days of World War II. White Gardenia sweeps across cultures and continents, from the glamorous nightclubs of Shanghai to the austerity of Cold War Soviet Russia in the 1960s, from a desolate island in the Pacific Ocean to a new life in post-war Australia. Both mother and daughter must make sacrifices, but is the price too high? Most importantly of all, will they ever find each other again?  

The Glittering World by Robert Levy When up-and-coming chef Michael “Blue” Whitley returns with three friends to the remote Canadian community of his birth, it appears to be the perfect getaway from New York. He soon discovers, however, that everything he thought he knew about himself is a carefully orchestrated lie. Though he had no recollection of the event, as a young boy, Blue and another child went missing for weeks in the idyllic, mysterious woods of Starling Cove. Soon thereafter, his mother suddenly fled with him to America, their homeland left behind. But then Blue begins to remember. And once the shocking truth starts bleeding back into his life, his closest friends—Elisa, his former partner in crime; her stalwart husband, Jason; and Gabe, Blue’s young and admiring coworker—must unravel the secrets of Starling Cove and the artists’ colony it once harbored. All four will face their troubled pasts, their most private demons, and a mysterious race of beings that inhabits the land, spoken of by the locals only as the Other Kind...

Her Name Is Rose by Christine Breen In a cottage in the west of Ireland, Iris--gardener and mother to an adopted daughter, Rose--is doing her best to carry on after the death of her husband two years before. At the back of her mind is a promise she never intended to keep, until the day she gets a phone call from her doctor. Meanwhile, nineteen-year-old Rose is a brilliant violinist at the Royal Academy in London, still grieving for her father but relishing her music and life in the city. Excited but nervous, she hums on the way to an important master class, and then suddenly finds herself missing both of her parents when the class ends in disaster. After the doctor’s call, Iris is haunted by the promise she made to her husband--to find Rose’s birth mother, so that their daughter might still have family if anything happened to Iris. Armed only with a twenty-year-old envelope, Iris impulsively begins a journey into the past that takes her to Boston and back, with unexpected results for herself and for Rose and for both friends and strangers.

Book Review - Love By The Book

Love By The Book

By: Melissa Pimentel
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: February 2015
ISBN: 978-0143127284
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: February 2015

Okay...it’s true: there is an obsession with Sex In the City – all the way down to the Real Housewives who spend their days crabbing at each other, talking about sex, wardrobe, and drinking various glasses of wine while they’re doing it. Why is this so interesting, you ask? Look at CNN for five minutes and you will completely understand why fun, wit, and high-heels are a necessity to stay positive in this world.

Main character, Lauren Cunningham, is a lot like the rest of the females out there who are under thirty (but just barely) and are immensely unlucky-in-love. Instead of heading straight to some internet site to attempt to find the ‘one,’ Lauren picks up and moves to London. Not only is she not going on the internet, but she is going to drop the whole ‘man forever’ thing and simply strive for that vivacious, fun-loving, partying lifestyle that her single-self wants.

Englishmen are sexy. Anyone who can say they are not has not read and drooled over Mr. Darcy (the man who is STILL what every woman on the planet wants); or, seen Daniel Craig on screen being his James Bond pompous, egotistical, hottie self that turns everyone on. Lauren is all about those English gentlemen, but she seems to be having the opposite problem most women have. She wants the sex; she does not want more. And she can’t figure out why the men she dates don’t understand that. So...an experiment comes into play.

Lauren makes up her own ‘Guide to Dating’ by learning through each date and making notes in a journal of both bad and good choices. She wants to be the ultimate siren, and perhaps...just perhaps...that one Mr. Darcy may enter the picture before she’s done. Whether or not she can hold onto him is another twist.

These are those female-friendly tales that shout-out to all the girls out there who roll their eyes, drink their various drinks, have music prepping time, as well as a whole conversation about how to dress “casually” just to watch TV with a guy bringing beer. You would think “casually” is easy...but it’s not. The author has done a wonderful job with presenting a very real female struggling to understand some men’s minds, while finding her true self in the mix.

Quill says: Sarcasm at its absolute finest. This author is able to combine irony and fun with true emotion. Cheers!

Book Review - A Penguin Named Patience

A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story

By: Suzanne Lewis
Illustrated by: Lisa Anchin
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Publication Date: February 2015
ISBN: 978-1585368402
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 2, 2015

Patience looked a tad worried as she looked around the aquarium from her perch on top of a rock. Well, maybe a lot worried. She was an African penguin and was used to hot weather, but this time it was different. The Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans was flooded and the “aquarium staff was evacuated because of the flooding.” It was dark, terribly hot, and Tom, the penguin keeper and his sardines, were nowhere to be found. Patience wasn’t the only penguin facing this terrible dilemma.

There was Fanny, Ernie, Kohl, Bunny, Amquel, Voodoo (who was “under a spell”), Rocky, Stachmo, Dyer, Zelda, Dennis and many others. Patience was the oldest and had to keep them all in line, but was she patient enough to do it? It was dark and it was getting hotter by the minute when all of a sudden there was a beam from a flashlight. It was Tom! He set up a fan and brought them sardines. Patience snuggled up in his lap as the other penguins clustered around. It looked like they all would have to leave the aquarium, but where could they go?

This is a charming story of what happened to the Audubon Aquarium penguins during Hurricane Katrina children will love. Of course the main character is Patience, the “penguin in charge” and oldest penguin at the aquarium. The aquarium was heavily damaged and once the waters subsided they were going to be relocated to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. The artwork is delightfully expressive and very appealing. Young children will be rooting for Patience and all the other penguins as they safely make their way out of the aquarium. There’s an interesting historical note about Hurricane Katrina and the fate of the Audubon Aquarium in the back of the book. Do they ever return home? You’ll just have to read this tale to find out!

Quill says: Young children will love watching the journey of Patience and the Audubon Aquarium penguins as they make their way across the country!

Easy Way to Purchase Award-Winning Books

Feathered Quill has an online store linked to Amazon where we list all the books that have won our annual award program.  If the book is listed on Amazon, it's in our store.  It's a quick, easy way to find awesome books in your favorite genre(s).  Just updated to included books that won our 2015 contest.  Check it out!

http://www.featheredquill.com/awards.shtml

Winner - Feathered Quill's "We Love Animals!" Award

The Horse Lover: A Cowboy's Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs

By: H. Alan Day
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Publication Date: March 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8032-5335-3
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: February 2, 2015

H. Alan Day’s writing ability is the essence of heart, soul and voice and the notion is eloquently delivered in his memoir: The Horse Lover. His sister, Sandra Day O’Connor, contributed to the beauty of this story and penned a Forward that speaks volumes toward the pride and respect she has for her brother.

In the pristine and wide openness of South Dakota, the scene is set. Alan Day is no stranger to the range and cattle driving; as well he shouldn’t be. He owns two ranches. When the planets align (as they often do for those of us who pay attention), imagine Mr. Day’s surprise when he realizes his next calling in life will be that of taking on the care and consideration of 1,500 head of mustangs in the wild. To quote Mr. Day: “Without the South Dakota ranch, the wild horses and I would never have gotten to know each other. That much is certain. The ranch found me in the early summer of 1988, before a single wild horse stepped into my peripheral vision...”

There is no stall in this story and the voice of a seasoned story teller rises to its surface within the first few pages. Mr. Day walks alongside the reader and imparts the journey, complications, losses, frustrations and sheer magnitude of caring for these majestic, yet quite wild horses—horses that had no intentions nor affinity toward domestication, but animals just the same who could use some ‘tlc.’ Indeed, this is not a tale of coincidental happenstance. Rather, it is a heart-felt delivery of one man’s conviction and commitment to care and engage in a program that has since become convoluted, yet widely recognized in part due to the efforts of one particular rancher: Alan Day.

There is something very tangible that happens to me when I get to read a genuinely well-written story. I learn how to become a better writer. I had never heard of H. Alan Day, the writer. In all honesty, when I saw the forward had been written by Sandra Day O’Connor and the title had ‘horse’ in it; these were the two factors that piqued my interest...initially. The further into this memoir I journeyed, the more I recognized Alan Day’s sound writing ability. He has the gift of voice—a voice that is quite audible. Day’s selection of language may be basic, but it is believable and relatable. Passage upon passage pops simply by how the words have been arranged across the pages. There were many parts in this story when I felt I was in the moment with Mr. Day—be it during the transport of the endless procession of mustangs single-filing their way through the vaccination process or the unbridled freedom resonating from the sound of the pounding and rolling thunder of thousands of hooves across the wide open prairie of South Dakota. Mr. Day ignites feeling from the reader because he shares what he lived simply by conjuring up the exact placement for each word whose sole purpose was to carry its meaning and intent to its captive reader to interpret. As heart-wrenching as the outcome to the end of his tale was, he managed to end his story on a beautiful and brilliant high note: he tried, he ‘failed’ (hardly) and he’s a better person because of it. Bravo Mr. Day. I implore you to tell us another story! Not only have you arrived as a writer, but you have earned the right to add such credentials to your list of accomplishments.

Quill says: The Horse Lover is a must read for anyone who has stepped out of his or her comfort zone and saw the task through to its very end no matter the outcome—truly a beautiful read!

For more information on The Horse Lover: A Cowboy's Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs, please visit the book's website at: www.thehorselover.com

Winner of the Feathered Quill "We Love Animals!" Award

Buttermilk

By: Fat Hendrick
Illustrated by: Jamil Adler
Publisher: David Van Wie
Publication Date: August 2014
ISBN: 978-0-615-15505-0
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Date: February 2, 2015

There are children’s books that are all about education; there are children’s books that are pure fun; and then there are children’s books that become a part of the household, where they are read over and over again because they are so funny and so cool and so unique that every child, as well as their parents, have a ball reading them. This is one of those books.

Readers will not know off the bat why Farmer Floyd’s prize cow, Jesse, suddenly seems a bit odd. By odd, I mean that Farmer Floyd is looking very forward to Jesse once again winning the prize at the county fair the very next day for her amazing milk. But in order for Jesse to ‘do her best’ she needs her sleep, yet in Farmer Floyd’s world there is only: “Noise! Noise! Noise!”

You see, a new tenant is on Farmer Floyd’s property right now; and all this tenant wants to do is pluck a guitar. The farmer is not at all happy about this because Jesse can get no rest, which means she may not produce the best milk she can. But the next morning, Jesse doesn’t even bother to give any milk; instead, she makes a wonderful butter that has the entire town going crazy. Everyone for miles around wants this “wonderful, delicious, savory…butter.” In fact, they can’t get it in their hands fast enough. Not only has Jesse produced something far more amazing than her usual awesome milk, but she keeps producing this butter over and over again. But…how exactly is she doing it?

Let us just say that there is something ‘magical’ happening on Farmer Floyd’s property; a type of magic that is wonderful to listen to; a type of magic that will go on for decades to come, turning every frown into a smile. Although parents may know from a shadowed picture what, exactly, is pleasing Jesse so much that she is producing something so wonderful, it will open the door for kids of today to learn all about a ‘presence’ that once made everyone really, really happy.

Listen to the ‘plucking’ of the strings; root for Farmer Floyd to figure it all out; and praise Jesse for all her work, as you fall in love with Buttermilk. The author has reached out to the stars to create this tale, and the illustrator has done a wonderful job showing all human emotions, as well as a very happy cow.

Quill says: A fun fantasy based in reality that you will love to read over and over and over again. Readers will say to the author: “Thank you. Thank you very much.”

READ THE INTERVIEW!


For more information on Buttermilk, please visit the author's website at: www.fathendrickstories.com