She and her family live in Corning; she writes me she was inspired by “my love of storytelling ever since I was little. I have memories of elementary school projects where, as a class, we would write a book and each have a page to illustrate. I had always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, and only one day did I waver from this when I said out loud, ‘Maybe I'll be an author instead of a teacher,’ and my teacher responded with, ‘Why not be both?’”
“Dream Sweet: A Lyrical Bedtime Story” ($11.99 in paperback, independently published; also for Amazon Kindle), for babies and young children, celebrates seasons and special occasions with charming full-page illustrations from QBN Studios. She “decided that for my debut I'd go with a bedtime lullaby poem that I wrote, which stems from my experiences in early parenthood that I've gotten to relive and reinvent from my childhood. This lullaby commemorates these early years from my childhood combined with my children's.”
The book of dreams is about to open: “It’s time for bed now, little one. Settle in close, cozy, and snug./ As the sky turns from day to night, let the moon shine and the stars burn bright./ Now rest your head and your tired, little feet, wishing your dreams are nothing but sweet.”
How sweet? For the three children in the book, “Sweet as hot cocoa and Christmas tree hunting, Santa Claus, cookies, and present wrapping./ Sweet as fireworks and ‘Happy New Year!’ Banging pots and pans, loudly we cheer./ … Sweet as the kiss of a cute butterfly, and the sight of the first star in the sky./ … Sweet like the glow of your golden night light, your feathery pillow feeling just right.”
“I am so fulfilled by this stage of early parenthood,” she notes in the book, “seeing their faces bewildered and their starry eyes full of wonder over the simplest of things.”
G’night!
