Idia is the daughter of a warrior in the African village of Benin. One night she has a strange dream. She sees a woman first fighting a vicious battle and later treating the wounded with herbs and medicine.
Idia is a vivacious child who loves to dance and play, but the dream continues to trouble her. What can this mean? Women do not fight as warriors. So, one day she asks her father to teach her about warfare. He informs Idia that this is not the province of girls but promises to answer her questions if she works hard on her dancing. At the same time, Idia asks her mother to teach her about medicine and healing. As Idia continues to mature, she learns both the skills of the warrior and those of the healer.
When it comes time for Idia to marry, the young prince asks for her hand. A native doctor performs a ritual ceremony and Idia falls into slumber. She experiences the same dream which now reveals to her clearly its meaning and what her decision needs to be.
This is a beautiful picture book with an important message for young female readers. It also contains a map and interesting history of the kingdom of Benin. While the book is targeted for readers in the four to eight age range, the text is rather advanced and will appeal to older readers as well.
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Publisher’s Synopsis: Need a killer monologue for an audition? Discover a wealth of fresh options in this detailed tome.
Sick of the same scripts being done to death? Looking for a soliloquy relevant to teenagers? Seeking material with a positive spin? Full voting member of the National Television Academy and Tonight Show sketch performer Mike Kimmel has been writing, acting, and producing for decades. Now he’s here to share a curated collection of one hundred of the best comedy and drama monologues.
One-Minute Monologues for Teens is the ultimate volume of family-friendly stage material to help you nail that college drama program audition or class assignment. With a range of topics applicable to young actors, these pieces require no costumes or props, and discuss ethical questions perfect for middle- and high-school minds to explore. And with literally dozens of gender-neutral and unique scenes to choose from, you’ll find the right piece to take you from zero to callback in no time at all.
One-Minute Monologues for Teens is the dramatic arts advantage you need in your next live performance. If you like fresh material, optimistic spins, and challenging ideas, you’ll love Mike Kimmel’s definitive resource.
Ages 13+ | Publisher: Ben Rose Creative Arts | ISBN-13: 978-0998151380
Mike Kimmel is a film, television, stage, and commercial actor and acting coach. He is a twenty-plus year member of SAG-AFTRA with extensive experience in both the New York and Los Angeles markets. He has worked with directors Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Townsend, Craig Shapiro, and Christopher Cain among many others. TV credits include Game of Silence, Zoo, Treme, In Plain Sight, Cold Case, Breakout Kings, Memphis Beat, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was a regular sketch comedy player on The Tonight Show, performing live on stage and in pre-taped segments with Jay Leno for eleven years. Mike has appeared in dozens of theatrical plays on both coasts, including Radio City Music Hall, Equity Library Theater, Stella Adler Theater, and Theater at the Improv. He trained with Michael Shurtleff, William Hickey, Ralph Marrero, Gloria Maddox, Harold Sylvester, Wendy Davis, Amy Hunter, Bob Collier, and Stuart Robinson. He has a B.A. from Brandeis University and an M.A. from California State University.
As an educator, Kimmel has taught at Upper Iowa University, the University of New Orleans, University of Phoenix, and in the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Burbank, California public school districts. He is a two-time past president of New Orleans Toastmasters, the public speaking organization, and often serves as a speech contest judge. Mike has written and collaborated on numerous scripts for stage and screen. His full-length historical drama on Presidents Lincoln and Garfield was a 2013 semi-finalist in the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. He is the 2014 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from Upper Iowa University. Mike is a full voting member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the Emmys).
Teens interested in acting or public speaking will find no better resource for audition material. These one hundred one-minute selections provide a plethora of material that is positive and uplifting as wells as modern and applicable to the world of today’s youth.
Topics include teen necessities like cell phones, school relationships and teacher crushes. They give voice to the thoughts on teen minds. At the same time, the subjects develop discipline in study habits and the short length allow for a rapid development of skills connected to deep focus of the topic.
Teens gain the opportunity to choose subjects that permit them to develop their humor and wit. But for those preferring serious topics there is an opportunity to explore tragedy and loss.
Each reader will find plenty of choices to maximize chances of success.
Guerilla Publishing: a sleaze-free guide to publishing and marketing
Written by Derek Murphy
I have read quite a few books offering publishing advice to independent authors. This one filled in some of the blanks about my still unanswered questions.
Most new and independent authors worry incessantly about marketing and spend too much time on it. I will admit to being guilty on that count. Murphy believes authors should spend more of their time and resources writing. He believes the only two things an author should worry about are visibility and conversion. Getting your book in front of the right readers is more important than spinning your wheels using every available marketing tool available.
Before writing authors need to do preparation. Rather than write about what they want, do research, and find genres that will sell. Of course, one still needs to balance that with the need to enjoy writing in that area. Answering who, what, when and where to find your target readers and how to write the best story that appeals to their needs are the next steps.
Murphy discusses the kinds of errors authors make and how to fix them. Then he provides links to problem solve embedded in the text. This allows the reader to go straight to the source and find information about how to fix them. Practical advice on layout, formatting, book covers, and options for distribution are clearly presented. The necessary skills of locating the best keywords, categories, and book reviewers are explained and examples given. Finally, launching the book and getting the sales you need are handled, as well as editing and making changes.
There is a free download to a companion workbook to implement strategies and an invitation to join The Guerilla Publishing Facebook Group in which authors share problems and offer solutions to each other as they come across them.
I would highly recommend this book to fledgling authors as well as experienced authors. After seven years in publishing, I still have much to learn. This book will become part of my toolkit.
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The author presents an interesting set of exercises for children to discover the “superpower” within themselves. She encourages her readers to use mindfulness practices to dig within themselves and discover cognitive, emotional and physical strengths. Simple objects like a seashell, index cards, stones, and a hula hoop, as well as food items, are used in the exercises. By performing these activities children will become much more aware of the abilities they possess.
I would recommend this book primarily for a middle-grade audience as the book is a bit difficult for younger children to follow. A parent, teacher, or counselor would enhance the usefulness of the skills being taught.
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How The Cockroach Lost Its Voice: After Dinner Conversations
Written by Samuel Reifler
This book certainly will provoke unique discussions. The protagonists are two cockroaches who venture on a journey to the top of the refrigerator. They carry on a conversation about the squishy humans with three eyes. The third eye is their brain. Unfortunately, their brain allows them to focus on the past and the future as well as the present. That makes them unable to appreciate the beauty around them.
The book contains approximately 17 pages. While I found the plot interesting, it ended rather abruptly and left me wanting to hear more. Readers are provided with discussion questions and a link to a podcast group.
I believe families and couples might enjoy these books to stimulate interesting conversations. Recommended for children and adults ages eight and older.
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Little Miss HISTORY Travels to INDEPENDENCE HALL & The American Revolution makes its debut on the world stage.
No Fake News here….just the facts
The United States Constitution is the oldest federal constitution in existence. This document, along with the Bill of Rights, lays out the rights and responsibilities of its citizens. The Founding Fathers embraced the principles of the Enlightenment and a vision of liberty and justice for all. Trace their footsteps at Independence Hall and the Museum of the American Revolution.
Available in hardcover or paperback
AVAILABLE ONLINE OR ASK FOR IT AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE
A delightful science book about trees targeted for preschoolers and primary grade children. The author poses the question, can trees be blue? and goes on to examine different types of trees and the colors of their leaves. She explains that many trees change colors in the fall. Winter changes them into grays and browns. Sauble reminds readers about evergreens and how they retain their green leaves. Just when the reader concludes no leaves are blue, the author introduces a surprise.
The illustrations are simple but explain the text appropriately. I enjoyed the interactive features of searching for bugs hidden throughout the pages and the scavenger hunt activity. This is a fun book to add to a science homeschool or distance-learning curriculum.
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Publisher’s Synopsis: In the stand-alone companion to the New York Times–bestselling A Wolf Called Wander, a young orca whale must lead her brother on a tumultuous journey to be reunited with their pod. This gorgeously illustrated animal adventure novel explores family bonds, survival, global warming, and a changing seascape. Includes information about orcas and their habitats.
For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?
A Whale of the Wild weaves a heart-stopping tale of survival with impeccable research on a delicate ecosystem and threats to marine life. New York Times-bestselling author Rosanne Parry’s fluid writing and Lindsay Moore’s stunning artwork bring the Salish Sea and its inhabitants to vivid life. An excellent read-aloud and read-alone, this companion to A Wolf Called Wander will captivate fans of The One and Only Ivan and Pax.
Includes black-and-white illustrations throughout, a map, and extensive backmatter about orcas and their habitats.
This book drew me in from the opening chapter. The personified characters make you feel you a member of the whale pod. A compelling adventure that also provides readers with a wealth of knowledge about the dangers of life in the ocean. I highly recommend this beautiful book for elementary and middle-grade audiences. That doesn’t mean adults won’t enjoy it just as much!
A Whale of the Wild is at the top of my book list on the subject of whales. You will find other suggestions as you read on in the blog post.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosanne Parry is the author of the novels Heart of a Shepherd and Last of the Name, among other acclaimed titles. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in Portland, Oregon, and writes in a treehouse in her backyard. www.rosanneparry.com
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Lindsay Moore is an artist and writer with roots in Northern Michigan. She studied marine biology and fine art at Southampton College on Long Island and figure drawing at the Art Students League of New York, and earned her master of science in medical and scientific illustration from Medical College of Georgia, now Augusta University. Lindsay Moore lives with her family in Bowling Green, Ohio.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a copy of Rosanne Parry’s A Whale of the Wild!
Five (5) winners receive:
A copy of A Whale of the Wild, by Rosanne Parry
Giveaway begins September 1, 2020, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends September 15, 2020, at 11:59 P.M. MT.
Interested in finding additional great books about whales?
Here are a few suggestions:
Song for a Whale
Lynne Kelly
Ages 8-12
In the spirit of modern-day classics like Fish in a Tree and Counting by 7s comes the Schneider Family Book Award-winning story of a deaf girl’s connection to a whale whose song can’t be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him.
National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Whales
Lynn Marsh
Grade Level : 2 – 4
Over the course of their 70-year lifespan, sperm whales will easily travel the circumference of the Earth in search of food and the need to breed and find a mate. Males will travel as far north as the Bering Sea and as far south as Antarctica in order to find enough food to sustain their ways of live—up to 700 squid a day! Along the way, these massive beasts battle 30-feet-long giant squids, and each other, to sustain their ways of life.
Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
Mark Carwindine
Illustrated Martin Camm
Reference book for all ages
Authoritative text, detailed illustrations, and a systematic approach make DK’s Smithsonian Handbook of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises the most comprehensive and concise pocket guide to cetaceans. With more than 900 illustrations, this visual recognition guide is designed to make identification as simple and accurate as possible.
This book is one of a series covering plants, animals, and other natural phenomena from around the world and is published in association with the Smithsonian Institution.
Baby Belluga (Raffi Songs to Read) Board Book
Written by Raffi
Illustrated by Ashley Wolff
Age one through preschool
Raffi’s most popular and beloved song about the “little white whale on the go” is available in a sturdy board book edition–just the right size for babies and toddlers!
Singing supports and encourages even the youngest child’s speech and listening skills, which makes Baby Beluga perfect for early learning. Join this adorable baby whale in a busy day at sea, culminating in a warm mother-child bedtime ending. With its delightful illustrations, this is the ideal sing-along for a whole new generation of readers.
Wally Whale’s Mighty Tail: A Book about Happiness
Written by Kim Linette
Illustrated by James Loram
A Multicultural Book for Elementary Readers
At least that’s what Koa hears, and so he sets out in search of Wally Whale and the valuable knowledge that he hopes Wally will share.
Determined to discover Wally’s secret to being mighty, Koa follows the whale through waves and reefs, never knowing the truth was inside him all along!
Wally the Whale helps Koa – the little island warrior – learn the real secret to being mighty! And you already have it inside!
It’s a lesson of emotional intelligence that is essential for any child—including Koa, who learns as he journeys through the Pacific with Wally Whale.
Get to know the entire EQ Explorer’s Series—including how we donate 100% of profits to help underserved kids around the world.
This book is a brief overview of the history and implementation of online teaching. While college students have been using it in one form or another for a while, the concept has been thrust into the limelight as education on all levels has been shut down during the pandemic.
For traditional teachers, especially those in elementary and middle-grade classrooms, using the computer as a teaching tool has been a supplement up to this point. Now teachers are suddenly faced with the task of taking all their lesson plans and finding a way to deliver them virtually. Notwithstanding the problems of students and schools who do not have adequate bandwidth or hardware, there is the issue of appropriate software.
Pan points out some advantages of online learning. It is flexible, and today’s software programs allow for interactive student discussions, quizzes, and teacher-student direct interaction. It can be accessed at home or by mobile device. If teachers plan their lessons well ahead, they can input measures of accountability. Teachers must prepare parents in advance. They need to ask parents to participate, encourage and supervise the younger students.
There will be a period of transition when the method seems difficult, but with time and practice students and teachers become responsible and practiced with the techniques. There is no doubt in person instruction is a crucial and necessary component of education, but online teaching has emerged due to necessity and will not disappear from the educational landscape.
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February 28, 2021
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