Katharine crawford robey
An irresistible invitation... Kirkus Reviews. Where’s The Party? is a picture book about Kate who uses clues in ten birds’ songs to discover a very special party. Find out who the guests of honor are and learn about birds and birdsong along the way. There’s a glossary of birds in the back. Here’s an excerpt: “’Cheerily,’ the robin sings. ‘News!’ What news? Kate wants to know. A cardinal whistles, ‘Par-ty! Par-ty! Par-ty!’ A Party! Kate wants to go.”
With this book you will enter the imagination of a child’s world. Go with Kate as she follows birdsong down her path to the apple tree and finally to the brook. All of life is a celebration with Where’s The Party? (Random House/Charlesbridge, 2011). Where’s The Party? is currently available on Barnes and Noble nook books or from itunes as an ebook, complete with audio birdsong. Remaining paperback versions and hardbound are available on Amazon.
Illustrated in colorful watercolors by Larry MacDougall
Hare moves from the country to the suburbs. He likes his little house, but not his big green lawn. Hare lets the grass die and turn into mud. How the neighbors, Skunk, Bobcat, and Raven, stare! Find out what happens to Hare’s lawn in this story about a faithful hare and how he finally brings his neighbors together. Here’s an excerpt: “Hare moved away from the country. He took the smallest house, with the biggest lawn, at the end of the street. He liked his little house. But why was his yard short and bright green, nothing like home? ‘This must be fixed,’ Hare said to himself.” In the back of the book is a page explaining how to grow your own meadow.
Hare and the Big Green Lawn was recognized as book-of-the-month in the National Wildlife Federation’s magazine for children, Your Big Backyard. Hare and the Big Green Lawn is published by Rising Moon. You can buy Hare and the Big Green Lawn at www.amazon.com or visit the websites www.northlandpub.com or www.rlpgbooks.com or phone 800-462-6420.
Join Katharine along with authors Bruce Catton, Margaret Atwood, Aldo Leopold, and others in this fantastic Literary Field Guide to the Great Lakes. Two of Katharine’s stories are published in Milkweed Editions’ anthology, Stories from Where We Live: The Great Lakes (edited by Sara St. Antoine). In “Fireworks!” Julia can’t get close to her father because of her older sister. Then, one Fourth of July when driving home from the fireworks she discovers something awesome happening in the night sky. Here’s an excerpt: “Julia pushed her bare feet through the cold sand, plowing a quick furrow. The sand on the beach felt like silk, cold silk, tonight. In all of her ten summers, she could not remember a Fourth of July in northwest Michigan this cold. She…surveyed the bundled-up crowd of resorters and townspeople, looking for her dad.”
In Great Northern Pike, John’s dad finally lets him come fishing, only to ignore his son in the boat until John hooks a huge northern pike. But John has forgotten the net! Find out whether John and his dad succeed with the fish. The ending is based on a true story. Here’s an excerpt: “All that July, John awoke at dawn to the low sounds of his father preparing to fish. There was the clatter of rods, the thud of the screen door, the creaking of the wheel that lowered the boat into Platte Lake. From his bed on the screened porch he’d listen until the whine of the motor faded away. He longed to go with him.”
Katharine’s story, Tiger of the Air is printed in Milkweed Editions’ anthology, The South Atlantic Coast and Piedmont: A Literary Field Guide (edited by Sara St. Antoine). The story is told in journal form by Warren, a boy shipped off to his eccentric Great Aunt’s house for a visit only to discover an owlet swept out of its nest in a storm. Find out how a family of great horned owls bring Warren and his great aunt together. Here’s an excerpt: “This afternoon I found an amazing creature under the tallest pine in the yard. It’s a huge baby bird, downy white with piercing yellow eyes with huge black pupils, small wings, and big black feet. The black skin around his eyes gives him the look of a monkey or maybe a baboon. Great Aunt actually stopped knitting when she saw him and threw up her hands.”
You can find many more stories, poems, and journal entries in the Stories from Where We Live series. Both anthologies with Katharine’s stories in them can be found at www.milkweed.org or amazon.com. Available in hardbound or paperback. Teaching and activity guides can be found at www.worldashome.org.
The Sleeping Bear Wakes Up: A Sequel to the Legend of the Sleeping Bear is set in the heart of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. A grandfather tells his grandchildren the original Legend of the Sleeping Bear, then adds to the legend by telling what happens when Mother Bear wakes up from an almost endless sleep. “The Sleeping Bear Wakes Up explores themes of love, loss, and renewal in ways that children can understand and relate to” Anne Beach, M.D. Pediatrician and Author.
Julie Copiz’s watercolor collages are breathtaking. Everyone in your family will enjoy this story within a story, maybe even around a campfire. The Sleeping Bear Wakes Up is sure to become a timeless favorite. The ending will make you smile.
What would you do if you were a mother bear and your cubs were turned into two islands? Find out!
