It’s hard to imagine there are people in the U.S. who cannot read. Where would you be today if you hadn’t slipped into The Secret Garden, tagged along on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, jaunted Around the World in 80 Days, or made yourself at home in The Little House on the Prairie? The books I’ve read have spirited me away on incredible journeys, paths I would never have been able to tread had I not been able to read.
Enter Captain James Arruda Henry …
I have an extra copy of Connie Oney’s “Cultivation of a Lifestyle” book. (The perfect Christmas gift.) For those of you who are long-time magazine subscribers, I have an extra copy to share with whomever remembers …
Here’s a sweet little homestead cemetery on our property. Does a final resting place get any better than this?
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:
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!
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?
You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you. –Leon Trotsky
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
