Author Archives: maryjane

another awesome book

Did you catch my recent post about The Book of Awesome?

Well, as awesome as that book is, I’ve discovered a pair of equally awesome books for kids (and, let’s face it, most of us grownups love a good kids’ book too). These books are aptly named An Awesome Book! and An Awesome Book of Thanks!. They are the whimsically wonderful brainchildren of Dallas Clayton, a ding-dang awesome young fellow who also created The Awesome World Foundation in order to “promote children’s literacy by encouraging kids to dream and dream often.” The foundation gives away one of Clayton’s books for each copy sold and has sent books to charitable causes around the world.

Clayton told Amazon.com, “Whenever an author would read at my son’s school, he would come home with this order form asking for a check to be sent in so he could buy the book. I always just pictured myself as the kid in the class who wouldn’t have had the money to buy the book, so I just thought ‘I made the book, I can give them away.’ So I set up the Foundation to do just that: donate a book for every book sold. So now I travel around, reading to kids all over, giving away books.”

So, what exactly is so awesome about Dallas Clayton’s books? You simply must read them to understand, and reading them is so easy it’s—you guessed it—awesome. All you need to do is click on a book title here to read each book in its entirety:

An Awesome Book!

An Awesome Book of Thanks!

I’m guessing that, after reading them, you’ll have the sudden urge to buy one for each of your loved ones (whether they have kids or not). After all, everybody can use a nudge once in awhile, a tickle, a spark that reminds us how sweet it is to dream. Let your eyes tumble and romp through the playground of Clayton’s illustrations and you’ll get it. I know I did, and I can’t wait to share these books with my grandgirls.

 

An Awesome Book!

An Awesome Book of Thanks!

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Gratitude in Hard Times

I thought this letter by Erin Barnett, Director of Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org), was a good read for Thanksgiving gratitude.

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Today’s Recipe: Thai Curry Vegetable Soup

We had such a great voting turnout for the cover of our last issue (more than 6,000 votes), Come All Ye Dec-Jan ’12, we are doing it again! To be eligible to vote for the next cover of the magazine go to our MaryJanesFarm website and …

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Food for Fines

It’s the time of year when no one wants to think about coming up with extra cash, so the last thing you want to acknowledge is a library fine. Am I right?

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Today’s Recipe: Dried Apple Pie Rings

We had a bumper crop of Granny Smith apples this year, more than we can eat over the winter. Our solution? Dried apple pie rings. We dipped them in a a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and powdered milk. Huge hit with everyone!

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Great Find: Do you celebrate no-shave November? SOLD

Never nap alone again! These pillow cases, made by Miss Wilma of Kentucky, would look great adorning a settee on your front porch when the 4th of July rolls around next year. This is a Project F.A.R.M. (First-class American Rural Made) hand-embroidered product. $12 plus shipping ($12 for all three). All pillow cases are 10 X 10. For the men in your life that celebrate no-shave November, these could bring encouragement. (Did you know November is no-shave month?)

 Introducing King Edward of England:

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