When you close your eyes and see happiness, what do you see?
March 12, 2019
Happiness Is…
Each of us has a different view of happiness. This is because we are all unique individuals with varying dreams, passions, interests, and desires! Try this exercise:
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Think of the word, “happiness.” What do you see?
For me, happiness is:
…Lucas racing his bike around the yard (he LOVES that bicycle)
…a clear bright blue Florida sky (hopefully with ocean sounds in my ears!)
…playing chef or chef’s assistant in the kitchen with family or friends with happy music playing (I LOVE the community feeling when there are two or more of us cooking together.)
…the sound of the waves, the feel of squishy sand, the salty sea smell (for perfection, add a surfboard.)
…the smell of sweet hay, the sound of farm animals, the sight of abundant fruit on trees and in a garden
…a bright, open, cheery home with a sanctuary for visiting relatives (Grandma suite, anyone?)
…every time I picture this perfection in my mind, I see my family. Family, friends, community; living life together. This is what I picture as happiness.
I often imagine heaven as a huge garden, overflowing with life, where all of us spend quality time with each other tending the animals and plants as we were designed to do (okay, I know that’s simple and I’m ignoring the obvious awesomeness of actually seeing Jesus in glory, but you know, I can dream.) Happiness for me is being with my family.
A wise man said, “be sure if you join yourself to someone, they see happiness the same way you do.”
Another, “you can’t change someone, they are the only one who can choose to change themselves.”
Remember that you cannot be happy trying to force someone else into a mold you see. Enjoy them as they are. (We all have flaws, no one is perfect, and everyone is uniquely different!) Don’t try to change others, just allow them to be who they are. (A friend pointed out to me once that no one in the “Pooh-Bear” books “unfriend” Eeyore because he’s gloomy; they accept him as he is.)
When you close your eyes and see happiness, whom do you see with you? Those are the ones you love. That is what you treasure. Cherish time with those who make you happy.
A birth story of our little angel (and a slideshow of proud siblings & family!)
February 22, 2019
The Story of Baby Thea
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I was growing my seventh little angel.
Today, I get to write the story of her arrival!
On February 19th, a beautiful Tuesday morning, my day started normally. During my 32 minute drive to work, the Baby started thinking there was not enough room and my body did the stretching contractions (Braxton-Hicks) that is very normal for me in the last month or two before birth. I didn’t think much of it, really. After my boss left for appointments, one of my office companions, Lily, a beautiful brown and white pittie belonging to my boss, started laying at my feet and wouldn’t let me go anywhere without her! This was a bit of a warning to me because Sheba (my Aussie mix) always does this to me when I’m in active labor. I left at one (normal time) to get to Christina and then my midwife appointment.
Christina had been babysitting, finished some errands at the college so she would be ready for the summer semester, caught the bus to 207 (the road I take into town), and was waiting for me. Along the way, my midwife texted to reschedule the appointment to Thursday and I laughed during my voice-text because I was very tired and that worked great for me. I added, “or when Baby is ready,” as a joke because my babies have all come on or after the due date. Everyone had been rooting for a February birth since the official “due date” was February 24th, and except for Lucas, my wee ones were between 9 and 13 days “overdue” so I usually ignored the due date and just gave a general month (in this case, I’d been saying March).
I got Christina, teased her about driving (she’s recently received her learner’s permit), and we headed home. Sheba was acting odd, I was starving; Louis had made lasagna Monday so I ate a huge plate and took a short nap.
When I got to gym with Becky (her class is on Tuesday, the others are all Wednesday), the contractions were still there, but, like I said, that is normal for me. It had been happening off and on already for about a week and a half, so I just went about work because they were easy to ignore. Some friends and I chatted about babies as I was leaving, and someone said, “you know about your body by now, right?” I laughed, “each is different, but I’m still thinking March.”
Wow, was I wrong.
As Becky texted Christina and Louis to tell them we were off & headed to pick up Christina at CAP, Becky said, “Mom, I can’t drive us home, but if the baby keeps contracting like that, maybe Christina can.”
We laughed. Part of the driving restrictions on a learner’s permit forbid night driving for the first few months; but we always teased Christina that she’d have to drive home in the dark if I was in labor.
Home, I was starved, but my belly felt full after four strawberries. I took a shower and crashed. I kept waking up every couple hours, but I’m a light sleeper so that’s also normal. Each time, though, I noticed contractions. I’d check my phone just to see what time it was. Midnight. 1:40. 2:30. 3:50. At almost 4, I realized I was sweating and I decided to wait for fifteen minutes (so the water softener cycle was finished) and take a shower. The next glance at my watch showed 4:19. I took a shower and the first contraction after the water hit was very strong. I felt movement inside me. “Wow, you sure you’re ready?” I asked. I was sure that was just a fluke and usually the warm water calms contractions down. When the next two made my legs feel like jelly, I got out of the shower and crawled back into bed. The phone said 4:35. I wasn’t about to wake anyone or call Misti for three oddly strong contractions.
I tried to sleep. I had about two hours before I had to get ready for work.
At somewhere before 6am, I tried getting ready for work. I had to stop and breathe through contractions that were easy to time and I felt the baby moving slowly down inside of me. I was about to wake Louis but ended up stretching through a contraction. We have a mind link, I think. Louis woke up as I was stretching. He goes into mega cleaning and question mode. This is his serious mode. He has been through it enough to know we were going to have a baby this morning – or at least today. He told me to call Misti, he woke the kids up to help clean (normally, we clean before bed, but they had been in a non-cleaning mood the previous night), and directed the house with efficiency. I was restless, so kept walking around in between. Christina and Becky didn’t want to get out of bed. I went into the barracks to find out why not.
“Mom! You can’t have the baby in here!” Christina shrieked, covering her head.
“So, get up please and help Daddy with cleaning. Y’all should have done that last night. Once you finish, you can go back to bed, but he’s really stressing about the house and people coming so please help.”
No answer. I could feel another contraction creeping up. “Okay, you have about 20 seconds before I get another contraction and…”
Christina bolted, “MOM! I’m up! I’ll help Dad! GET CONTRACTIONS OUT OF MY ROOM!”
Becky was up too. Kimberly was definitely awake. Mission accomplished. I went back to the kitchen table. My “leave” alarm reminded me to text or call my boss. 6am though, I figured I should just text – plus I didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment.
Misti showed up (can’t remember if the house was clean, but based on the voices and giggling and a movie being on, I’d guess it was straightened). Mom was on the way, she told us she had to be at one of my brother’s promotions at 8am. The girls had turned on “The Two Towers” and as Louis walked by during the Uruk-hai production scene and he ordered, “Turn that off, you can see a real birth soon enough.” I can’t remember if the result was “Wild Kratts” or “Dumbo” but there was something far less messy on the tv a minute later. (I did hear one of the teenagers or preteens quip, “Mom will sound like an orc.” Louis and I laughed. We’re nerds.)
By 8:30, I was immune to the world. I heard Misti’s voice, smelled Louis (I was leaning on him), and faintly heard background voices. I was focused on this job.
8:42am and our little one came into the world, veiled. Misti took the bag off and the Baby screamed to test the limit of her lungs! (We didn’t know Baby was a “she” just yet!) Baby opened her eyes fully and stared up at me. Then she screamed to rattle the roof again. The dogs were barking. We discovered our Baby was Thea!
Welcome to our crazy world, Theadora Taliesyn Tart. You are loved and cherished!
Theadora (after her great-grandfather Melvin Theodore Pearson) means “gifted by God” and Taliesyn (feminine form of your grandfather’s favorite character from a Celtic legend) means, “one with the shining brow, one who sings wisdom.” And Daddy chose the nickname “Thea” because he likes it. (Your uncle texted that he’d call you “3T” – yes, Daddy searched for two “T” names we both liked!) I kept both names the same length, since that’s what we’ve done – all of the children’s names have the same number of letters in the first name and middle name. Theadora 8 letters, Taliesyn 8 letters – told you we are nerds.
Mom (Grandma Joanne in the pictures) came back with a shower of baby girl goodies! (And, yes, this is why she’s in such cute clothes once we managed to get them on her!)
Theadora, I pray you always feel the love of your family as you wiggle your way up to adulthood. I pray you feel the warmth and see the light of God’s love reflected in the faces of your sisters and brother, mother and father, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins. We have accepted the honor of being your guides to lead you to Jesus, to raise you in love, and to give you room to find, develop, and follow the passion of life God has rooted within you. You are a daughter of God, a precious gift to us, and chosen to bring light through your smile.
Becky said I can’t post a baby story without her pictures! So here is a little slideshow:
Lucas kept trying to “pet” and “kiss” Baby TheaChristina & Thea (oldest & youngest)Lucas said “you are my love, Baby Thea!”Grandma Joanne & TheaChristina and Becky are already vying for who gets the babyKimberly and TheaJillian and TheaTheadora Taliesyn TartThis is Christina’s favorite from Thea’s birthdayJaquline and TheaBecky and TheaDaddy and TheaAunt Becca and TheaThea and Mommy
“Parents Night Out” aka Gymnastics Party no child wanted to go home from!
January 22, 2019
Gymnastics Party!
My gym hosts a charity event once a month they call “Parent’s Night Out” – the kids participating call it “Gymnastics Party.”
Every third Saturday, or 4 or 5 hours, depending on the month (February and December are 5 hours), parents can drop their child(ren) off at WGV Gymnastics so they can enjoy a supervised gym party while the parents enjoy some alone time. Each event has a different theme: from Luau Night (September 21, 2019) to Superhero Night (July 20, 2019), Pirate and Princess Night (April 20, 2019) to Glow Mania (March 16, 2019) each event is sure to entertain!
The proceeds benefit the WGV Athletics Booster Club (a non-profit group whose primary purpose is to provide financial support for WGV gymnasts during their competitions).
The partiers loved the gym, fun games (“Night at the Museum,” “Alligator,” and “Freeze Dance” were the favorites!), a dance party, pizza, and encouraging camaraderie!
As our time came to a close, partiers tried various methods to pretend they didn’t have to go home – one of my nieces was stiffly sitting in her line after noticing mom. I whispered, “your mom is here,” and her reply was made without moving her mouth, “I know, I just wanted to pretend I didn’t see her yet.”
My teenager who wasn’t participating this time (she’d been babysitting for a family friend from about 6:30am & it was about 6pm when she arrived with Grandma) took a few pictures and videos of the cousins at the event:
JJ hung out with Grandma watching the older kids play.
Anastasia was very excited!
She got to jump on Tumble Track!
Isaac almost didn’t come out of the foam pit!
He spied Becky’s candy-striped leggings!
Sweet T standing in line – we found her most at the Tumble Track!
And a tiny video of Tory on Tumble Track doing her “twirls” – so cute!
My girls have decided to “come to work” with me every Parent’s Night Out since they had so much fun!
Cousin visits to our “mini-farm” aka place to get messy, play with animals, discover eggs hidden outside, and enjoy togetherness!
January 18, 2019
Cousin Visits!
My sister, brother, and their three little ones (Sister-Cousin and Brother-Cousins!) have moved back from Kansas!
They came out to our mini-farm (muddy spot with a pond, outside tank with tadpoles, indoor goldfish, foraging chickens, playful Guinea Pigs, cute fluffy bunny, and jumpy adult dogs who think they are 4 months old) over the weekend and the kids were totally excited!
This time, we had very few photographers snapping pictures because they were too busy playing with their cousins!
Lucas was so excited to share his green car (motorized car his Grandma Joanne bought him for his 2nd birthday) but the battery ran out too quickly – so he shared his Christmas bicycle and his train tracks. For him, those items are his dearest things in the world; train tracks, cars, his bicycle, and his green car.
“Baby JJ” – who isn’t a baby anymore! – and Lucas played train tracks for a bit. JJ liked the bicycle too. Outside JJ and Mandy wanted to see all the fluffy animals.
Anastasia helped show off Minuit, Kimberly’s little black Dwarf Holland Lop Bunny.
Little Minuit loves to eat carrot bits!
Mandy found Jaquline’s “hidden spot” in her bunkbed! (With big paper on the “wall.”)
Taylor and TobyMac did their popcorn jumps after the girls loaded them with Spanish Needles greens (chickens, bunnies, and Guinea Pigs love them before they turn to seed aka the needle part).
Above is the wildflower called Spanish Needle, a favorite food of many small animals.
Jillian showed off her Uncle Buddy knowledge by telling them that people can eat the wildflowers and leaves too. (Yes, but they are bitter unless cooked, and I hoped her younger cousins were distracted by the cuteness of the piggies and missed the “you can eat this weed” tidbit.)
We love cousin visits! It is always fun with family shares their time with each other.
The time leading up to Thanksgiving is when I usually reflect on the amazing things that God has done for us. I often start with how every move in my life led to new experiences that helped build who I am – and the time I wrote in my journal “I’ll move with them one last time.”
That was to Saint Augustine when I was 18.
Just after that move (January 2002) I went to a family reunion where every adult teased me about not having a boyfriend (had never dated) and I remember replying with “in God’s time it will happen.” It was an awesome fun time where I met many relatives and learned many stories about my late grandparents.
January 2003, one year later, I was married, carrying our first child, and working in the town where my husband’s family had lived for generations. The roots I’d wanted as a child I married into. I instantly had two amazing grandmothers. Grandma Jeannette taught me amazing things like crochet and canning food and cooking or preserving local Florida produce. I loved learning by her side. Grandma Honey had the most fascinating stories of Cracker life as a young girl and her journey as a mother, wife, and artist (she painted amazing landscapes).
If I had planned my life (as I did in notebooks since being ten years old) it would not have included a 4-month courtship. I always planned on “knowing someone” for years – generally all the way through 6 or 8 years of university – before marrying. God had other plans.
I didn’t plan on immediately getting pregnant – married in November and baby’s beautiful face is framed in our wedding cake topper on our first anniversary photo. God had other plans.
We both planned on having a big family, but then our naïve thoughts of “big” were relative to the world around us – he thought 7 like his grandparents, I thought 7 like my parents. We agreed early on that we’d let God decide our family size. I don’t think either of us were truly thinking we’d ever be blessed with 7, maybe 3 or 5; maybe, and that would be “big.” God had other plans.
Our little blessing growing within me now was totally not “according to plan” as I’d gotten sick and we’d decided it wasn’t a prudent time to start new life. God laughed; this little one was already growing. And the hormonal imbalance caused by my reaction to multiple medications which my research said would take 18 to 24 months to reset, was reset by the pregnancy within 5 months. Although we thought we were planning well, God had other plans.
I love how my life didn’t go according to my “plans” – and I’ve kept diaries since I was ten, so I can look back at plans I made. I didn’t stop making plans, I am a planner and organizer by nature, but I so love it when God’s plan intervenes and “surprise” life things happen. I love God’s plans and how they are so different (sometimes) from my “plans” but so reflect my true heart.
From little things like my future sister and I working at the same place at the same time without knowing each other to amazing life events like marriage and births; in each, I see God’s powerful hand. I’m so thankful for His direction and for the wisdom to allow Him to lead me.
I’m thankful for the ability to keep our family sustained.
We’ve always had jobs.
When one door closes, God always had something else waiting in the wings for us. Sometimes far different from what we expected, but still awesome.
I was at an interview and someone commented on the variety of jobs I’ve had (Software Developer, Customer Service aka Ride Operator, Bank Teller, Business Office Manager of a Skilled Nursing Facility, Co-owner & Manager of a Transportation Company) – I had to add my recent update to that list as I’m currently a Gymnastics Coach. His question was what could I bring to this job (food retail)? Well, each position has taught me new skills and the list proves I can learn anything.
This official job experience doesn’t list that I’m a published author of over 50 books in children’s, educational, and young adult genres!
It’s amazing to me that God found me a job where I can combine my love of teaching, physical fitness, and a childhood dream! (Gymnastics Coach) I love the environment in which I work and the people with which I have the privilege of working. Someone said it’s a step down to go from business owner to working for another small business. Nope. Not at all. I bring a work ethic with me where I understand the challenge of being a small business owner and I always work my job as if it’s my company – even far before I was a business owner. Ask me, it’s “my gym” – just because I get to work there!
I’m thankful for all the steps along this life journey. I’m thankful for the people I’ve met along the way. I remember faces and some names – people like Mrs. Joy up the big hill when I was 8 in Eutawville, South Carolina who baked cookies with my sister and me and gave me my first cookbook. I remember Grandma Jeanette telling me after I’d been married a year or so, “honey, you were going to be my granddaughter, no way out of it” because she had prayed for me after meeting me at church (before I met her grandson). I’m thankful for mentors, family, and friends.
I’m thankful for all I see before me; God has been so gracious and generous to me and my family. We’ve been blessed so very much.
Every time I reflect on the blessings God has given me, I am overcome with gratefulness. I can’t help but whisper a prayer of thanks. Even though we won’t be “coming together” for “thanksgiving dinner” on the actual Thursday this year, we’ll get together on a different day with family and celebrate our thanks!
I pray blessings on you and your family as we reflect on all that we can be thankful for!
In late Florida Spring, we get rain. Who am I kidding? We get flooded. Our meteorologists have a very easy job. They can say, “we have a 100% chance of rain at some point today with clouds and a chance of thundershowers.” We do get a few slivers of sunlight, just enough to remind us that the sun is still battling for dominance.
A result of this rainy season is a slight change to the adage “April showers bring May flowers;” in Florida it’s “A string of showers bring beautiful flowers.”
Aren’t they gorgeous?
We had only a few small bulbs in neglected clusters when we moved in last year. We dug them up, separated them, replanted and fertilized the soil at least monthly with organic non-toxic high-nitrogen fertilizer. They reward us with amazing blooms after the showers!
Our fiery orange and yellow blooms are Kimberly’s favorite. (We had just three bulbs last year!) These are our front yard background flowers with their huge oval leaves and tall stalks.
Our bright white and fuchsia lilies make the bulk of the garden blooms.
These little buggers were in four clusters all dejected. A total of 34 bulbs – now they cover in a checkerboard pattern the front, center, side, one beautiful cluster, and lines between the cedar trees along the driveway. There are easily 100 bulbs now and we’ll have more in January when we replant.
Then there are my awesome tiny purple blooms with straight stalks called “Mexican Petunias.” Grandma Jeanette had a yard full of those! These are actually great-grand flowers off of some cuttings Grandma Jeanette gave me about ten years ago. So they are our “heirloom flowers.” (Yes, that’s a collard on the right.)
(Yes, that’s my crazy, fun, brood with their Dad! – the featured image is with me!)
Today is Mother’s Day.
I’m grateful for my mother; for all the guiding and love.
As an adult, I’ve come to see that a lot of mothers compare themselves to others: their mother, grandmother, aunt, or friends. Sometimes, we perceive that everyone else is way better at this mother job than we are. But that’s not how God wants us to see ourselves.
God blessed you with your children. (Or the children you impact, like your nieces, nephews, friend’s children – you are impacting them too!)
He wanted you to have them! (Isn’t that humbling? Imagine giving your child to someone else, that’s what God did when He entrusted his child(ren) to you!)
He knows you and he knows them – He knew it would be a perfect match. With His guidance, you can do this!
Instead of comparing myself and ending up thinking I’m super failing, I analyze myself and try to make my attitude, behavior, response-time, or self better (self-improvement!) for them. I want to be a better mom; everyone is growing and no one is perfect. But God gave your child(ren) to you, your job is to be their mom!
Enjoy this stage of life without cutting yourself down. Instead, if you find yourself feeling that you aren’t as good as you want to be (everyone feels this at some times), encourage yourself to improve. Your child(ren) need you to be just what you are: Mom. And they love you! (Yes, even at the teen stage when they may not say it anymore!)
Thank you to my Moms, Grandmothers, Aunts, mentors, and friends: you’ve all helped and inspired me!
Smile, dance, play dolls, build blocks, race matchbox cars, bake cookies, sing silly songs, take funny pictures; do all the fun things that you sometimes push away because you’re busy. These little memories live in your children forever.
The fun of off days is being able to spend time with family! After I got done working Saturday, we planned on meeting up with Aunt Becca and Anastasia. (Jillian calls her “my almost-my-age sister cousin” because Anastasia is 4 and Jillian is 5.) Our start time got delayed, as usual, but that happened on both ends. (Secretly, I love it when that happens! It’s like it was orchestrated!) We were “sardined” into the van with sand toys, boogie boards (which originally belonged to my sisters and brothers), towels to line seats, the canopy tent (usually used for craft and book shows), and two camp chairs. Oh yes, and add the apples and cherries from our 3-minutes stop by the Produce Market. (Our part of the snacks – we remembered Lucas’ water cup but forgot the gallon of water.)
And we had the surfboard. THE. As in, there is no other like it. It was my Dad’s ages ago. He rode it up and down A1A before the overgrown beach houses obscured the ocean view. It is bright yellow with a blue “arrow” on the front. (The girls claim this gives it extra speed.) It has a few bumps and dings – yes, see that? That one was from my only-ever attempt to stand at North Vilano Beach where the wave dropped me on the shells. I like to call it “mine” but invariably it is referred to as “Granddaddy’s surfboard,” because everyone knows where it came from. Christina tries to call it “mine” and Kimberly is starting to call it “mine” so maybe that is the official name, “Mine,” since I’m not done with it yet! Honestly, we compromise; it is “ours,” and we all love to share it.
When our sardine can turned into the beach park north of the pier, the girls spotted Aunt Becca’s car behind us and started screaming, “Yeah! Aunt Becca!” and “I see Grandma’s hair!” Lucas napped through all of this commotion. We played musical parking spots until we found two side-by-side and the troupe tumbled out of the vehicles, hugged and squished each other in greeting, grabbed their assigned items, and paraded up the walkover to the beach. Lucas and I took up the rear, but Grandma stopped to help another little one.
Lucas spied Grandma. “Mommy! MY GRANDMA is HERE!!” That woke him up! Anastasia ran past and he squealed “my ‘STASIA!” Now squirming with excitement, he heard my sister. “Mommy! Grandma! My Aunt Becca HERE!” He didn’t get down, but twisted around to see her. “Mommy, THE BEACH!” He yelled as we started going down the walkover steps. He then announced to everyone else who chose to hear that he was at the beach and named everyone he came with in a very quickly smashed up string of excited words.
Set up was fast and the children launched into the ocean in twos and threes while the adults paused to relax and say hello in the shade. Lucas discovered Anastasia’s sand toys.
Jillian and Anastasia hit the surf on boogie boards.
One visible head is part of the three heads in the distance belonging to Jaquline, Kimberly, and Rebeccah.
Christina took the surfboard out and after a couple of rides to discover the safety of the sand bar and how shallow the water actually was. She started giving tandem rides to the older girls and “baby wave rides” to the littler ones. Mom got to tow the middle ones out one at a time to catch waves.
When everyone paused to refuel, the surfboard doubled as a comfy sand-free bench.
We enjoyed rain in the water and played shipwreck. The two littlest were in a boat, the others on boards, and Rebeccah, Christina, Aunt Becca, and Mommy guiding and swimming out “in the deep” just before the sandbar. We pretended we were shipwreck survivors trying to navigate the waves (as if there wasn’t a beach 20 feet away) and keep each other afloat while Grandma watched for approaching ships and held down the fort. (Quite literally, as the wind was picking up the canopy!) Christina, Jaquline, Anastasia, and Lucas built a big hole in a tide pool and played like the Funny Sisters in Sisters at the Seashore. (Lucas kept jumping in it!)
Join us next time, another adventure awaits! (And everyone slept all through the night!)
I’m one of these people who loves real books. The smell, the weight, the way my finger anxiously waits behind one edge of a page while my eyes finish it quickly – I’m immersed in the writer’s world and feel like the book surrounds me. To me, nothing will ever replace the printed book.
I’m also a computer programmer; I understand that as the paradigm shifts with new technology some things go extinct. We shifted from room computer brains to a tiny chip stuck in a device that fits in our palm – and this tiny smart phone is smarter than the room-sized computers!
Thus, I am a paradox. I collect and buy print books but publish ebooks. I love writing using colored pens in notebooks but I can format .docs and .pdfs for ebook and print submissions (everything is submitted electronically now). Remember typewriters? I skipped those completely. So I’ll explore any method of presenting my books to my audience.
I have audio-books (The Home Edge Readers) as the short lecture format was easy to read. The purpose of this custom series is to teach students new terms – so audio was a good idea as they can hear the terms pronounced. My father is a wizard of production; he produced these.
He had another wizard idea and asked for all my rough pictures and illustrations for Long Tail. I emailed them to him and he produced a DVD Book. Basically, this is a DVD (plays in any normal DVD player) with the story coming up as one page on a screen with illustrations, printed words, background sounds, and audio text. (“Grandma Pearson” reads the story as the words are on the screen.) My girls loved this! (It is now what Lucas calls “grandma chicken movie.”)
Vivid colors grab the audience’s attention. There are rooster crows, farm sounds, running feet, and other background noises as the narrator reads the text that is printed on-screen. Older children read along (like a sing-along-song video) while the activities and changing screen images keep the younger ones’ attention.
Further projects are on the way, but for now “Long Tail and Red Hawk” is our pilot DVD Book.
It’s another way to read a children’s book. I like to compare it to a graphic novel with narration.
It’s entertaining, short, and fun. I even catch my teenager sitting on the edge of the couch or leaning behind it, pretending she wasn’t watching the “kiddie movie” when she sees us notice her. For about fifteen minutes, they enter Long Tail’s chicken world and they are hooked!
