Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Heartwarming

The 2022 Military & Front Lines CIBAs Finalists for Service to Others
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

Note: This is the newest division at Chanticleer! We are honored to recognize these specialized stories from those who serve.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2022 Military and Front Line Non-Fiction Short List to the 2022 Military and Front Line Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the First Place and Grand Prize Winners of the 2022 Military & Front Lines Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Robert E. Lofthouse – Honor Through Sacrifice
- Colonel Van H. Slayden, USAF, with Patrecia Slayden Hollis – Normandy to Nazi Surrender, Firsthand Account of a P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot
- George Kohn – Vector to Destiny
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – A Blessed Life
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement
- Isaac Alexis M.D. – The Seductive Pink Crystal
- Marcus A. Nannini – Midnight Flight to Nuremberg
- Christine Herbert – The Color of the Elephant: Memoir of a Muzungu
- Ashe and Magdalena Stevens – Lost in Beirut: A True Story of Love, Loss and War
- Matthew J. Louis – Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles to Your Post-Military Career
- Jim Enderle – Fight, Flight, or Freeze
- Jonathon C. Benjamin – American Airman
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

This is a new division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Military and Front Line Awards is Martha Bolton with Linda Hope for Dear Bob… Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of WW2

Click here to see the 2021 Military and Front Line Book Award Winners for Service to Others

We are now accepting submissions for the 2023 Military and Front Line Book Awards. The 2023 Winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Learn more here.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 28, 2023
The 2022 Military & Front Lines CIBAs Short List for Service to Others
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

Note: This is the newest division at Chanticleer! We are honored to recognize these specialized stories from those who serve.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Military and Front Line Non-Fiction entries to the 2022 Military and Front Line Book Awards SHORT LIST. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2022 Military & Front Lines Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Robert E. Lofthouse – Honor Through Sacrifice
- Colonel Van H. Slayden, USAF, with Patrecia Slayden Hollis – Normandy to Nazi Surrender, Firsthand Account of a P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot
- George Kohn – Vector to Destiny
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – A Blessed Life
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement
- Azim H. Jiwani, MD – Humanizing Medicine
- Isaac Alexis M.D. – The Seductive Pink Crystal
- Marcus A. Nannini – Midnight Flight to Nuremberg
- Christine Herbert – The Color of the Elephant: Memoir of a Muzungu
- Ashe and Magdalena Stevens – Lost in Beirut: A True Story of Love, Loss and War
- Bruce Rowe, MD – Everything Under the Sun
- Brant Vickers – Chucky’s in Tucson
- Matthew J. Louis – Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles to Your Post-Military Career
- Jim Enderle – Fight, Flight, or Freeze
- Jonathon C. Benjamin – American Airman
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

This is a new division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Military and Front Line Awards is Martha Bolton with Linda Hope for Dear Bob… Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of WW2

Click here to see the 2021 Military an Front Line Book Award Winners for Service to Others

We are now accepting submissions for the 2023 Military and Front Line Book Awards. The 2023 Winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Learn more here.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 2, 2023
Navigating Narrative Non-Fiction | November Deadlines for the CIBAs
Demystify Your Non-Fiction with Chanticleer

In Fiction, genre boundaries can sometimes seem so clear, scifi has aliens and mysteries have a murder, but how do we organize Non-Fiction?

Chanticleer offers a wide variety of Non-Fiction Book Awards, and here we’ll focus on the Narrative Non-Fiction Divisions.

These Divisions are:
The Original*

The Journey Awards came first. These awards shine bright as the lodestar of quality for the others. As more Non-Fiction submissions came in, the number of Non-Fiction Divisions expanded to fill the need. Right now, the Journey Awards focuses primarily on stories Overcoming Adversity. Often tear-jerkers, these stories highlight the resiliency of being human.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Journey Awards was Better off Bald by Andrea Wilson Woods.

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Woods retells her story with compassion and a rational eye for detail while embracing all the deep emotions that ravage her as she records every one of the 147 days after the initial diagnosis.
Their confusion about how this could have happened and their hope that they can beat this “thing” growing inside Adrienne are present on each page. Woods makes note of the doctors by name, the nurses by nicknames, and the hospital visits by hours spent waiting, waiting, waiting for help to come and rescue them from the nightmare that cancer has made of their lives.

Read more here.

*Note: The Journey Awards deadline has already passed, but the 2023 Journey Awards are open now!

Putting in the Research

Following the Journey Awards, it became clear we needed Awards focused on Journalism and Reporting. Enter the Nellie Bly Awards, named for reporter Nellie Bly whose journey around the Earth inspired the story Around the World in 80 Days. These books can back up all their facts with hard dates and maybe even an appendix at the end. They tell the stories that call out for their place in history.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Nellie Bly Awards was America’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor by Nicole Evelina.

After being forgotten for nearly 130 years, the “Mother of Suffrage in Missouri” and her husband are finally taking their rightful place in history.

St. Louisans Virginia and Francis Minor forever changed the direction of women’s rights by taking the issue to the Supreme Court for the first and only time in 1875, a feat never eclipsed even by their better-known peers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Yet despite a myriad of accomplishments and gaining notoriety in their own time, the Minors’ names have largely faded from memory. In 1867, Virginia founded the nation’s first organization solely dedicated to women’s suffrage—two years before Anthony formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (NWSA). Virginia and Francis were also the brains behind the groundbreaking idea that women were given the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment, a philosophy the NWSA adopted for nearly a decade.

Read more here.

Opening up Personal Narratives

As the Journey Awards began filling up, it became difficult to recognize both the uplifting and inspirational work as well as the work that looked at the darker side of what people overcome in their life. To try and highlight this warmer tone of writing, the Hearten Awards were introduced, so this “chicken soup for the soul” style of book could be brought to the forefront.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Hearten Awards was DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them by Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo

We can all make a difference. Elementary-school teacher Diane Trull’s life-defining moment happened when her fourth-grade reading class saw a photo of a cardboard box overflowing with homeless puppies. Trull was no stranger to rescuing abandoned animals. She and her husband, Mark, had made it their mission to find permanent homes for stray dogs and cats. Now her young students were determined to save these lost pups and others like them. And in that moment, the Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary-known as DAWGS-was born. How Trull and her fourth graders started their own animal shelter is a story of dedication, commitment, and perseverance. In this eye-opening, deeply personal book, Trull describes the challenges they faced, from rescuing and caring for the animals to teaching children about compassion and responsibility, to facing local interests opposed to having a shelter in their town. She shares inspiring stories about animals and animal lovers of all ages in this moving story of hope and compassion. DAWGS is a testament to how love and a strong measure of determination can offer second chances-one animal, one child, and one day at a time.

Read more here!

The Newest Division from Chanticleer

The Military and Front Line Awards are close to our heart at Chanticleer. We’ve often wanted enough submissions for this to be its own Division as we all have family who has served in the military. However, we wanted these Awards to represent all walks of life that provide Service to Others like firefighters, teachers, medical workers, and the family of those who work to make our world a better place.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Military and Front Line Awards was Dear Bob by Martha Bolton with Linda Hope

For five decades, comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and entertainer Bob Hope (1903-2003) traveled the world performing before American and Allied troops and putting on morale-boosting USO shows. Dear Bob . . . : Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II tells the story of Hope’s remarkable service to the fighting men and women of World War II, collecting personal letters, postcards, packages, and more sent back and forth among Hope and the troops and their loved ones back home.

Soldiers, nurses, wives, and parents shared their innermost thoughts, swapped jokes, and commiserated with the “G.I.s’ best friend” about war, sacrifice, lonely days, and worrisome, silent nights. The Entertainer of the Century performed for millions of soldiers in person, in films, and over the radio. He visited them in the hospitals and became not just a pal but their link to home. This unforgettable collection of letters and images, many of which remained in Hope’s personal files throughout his life and now reside at the Library of Congress, capture a personal side of both writer and recipient in a very special and often-emotional way. This volume heralds the voices of those servicemen and women whom Hope entertained and who, it is clear, delighted and inspired him.

Read more here.

A huge thank you to these incredible authors.

Keep Writing. Truth matters now more than ever.

Have an excellent Non-Fiction Narrative that deserves recognition? Submit now to our Non-Fiction Book Awards by the end of November!*

Note: The Journey Awards Deadline has already passed

Your book could be next!

Looking to up your game? Check out the traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels.
November 17, 2022
WISHES and KISSES by Heather Pallotta – Heartwarming Children’s Books, Children’s Literature, Stories in Verse
A triumphant treasure in the bustling world of children’s literature, Heather Pallotta’s Wishes and Kisses is a work of art that will let every child who experiences it know that they are greatly loved and how magical they make the lives of the people around them.

In the world of Wishes and Kisses, we are all made of sunshine and love, wishes and kisses, and how our uniqueness makes us perfectly us. Children will learn that some days will bring warmth and wiggles and others they may feel down and not quite themselves, but that all of these feelings are okay. The story reminds children (and adults) to fly high and follow their dreams to the stars.

Heather Pallotta has been an artist since 1999 and was inspired to create children’s books by her children. She aims to teach confidence, love, uniqueness, and endless possibilities through her highly imaginative books.

It is beyond doubt that Wishes and Kisses was written with an abundance of love for her children by watching their growing imaginations and exploration of themselves and the world around them.

The illustrations, also drawn by the author, are simply stunning, beautifully reflecting the thoughts and feelings of the story itself. Parents and children will love these beautiful drawings and the uplifting message that will surely inspire the next generation of readers and artists.

Pallotta has other stories within the world of Wishes and Kisses to come, the first being Ruler of Daffodils.

Wishes and Kisses won 1^st Place in the CIBA 2017 Little Peeps Awards for Children’s Literature and may be downloaded for free here.
October 11, 2021
POSTHUMOUS by Paul Aertker – Children’s Death & Dying Books, Children’s Books about Death, Grief & Bereavement, Children’s Books about Libraries & Reading

Can a book about a loved one’s death be life-affirming and uplifting? If it comes from the award-winning, middle-grade author, Paul Aertker, the answer is a resounding yes.

Sometimes, occasionally, life is perfect. So it is for 12-year-old Ellie Kerr who lives with her mother and father in a Paris apartment with a view of La tour Eiffel and attends an international school. Her wealthy, well-connected father manages the vast financial interests of a former King of France. Her talented, glowing mother, a writer, has an ambition to see her little novels called “Explore the World” published. The household is completed with Munda, their Au pair/nurse from the French West Indies whose charm and worldliness adds additional warmth to the already close family.

A perfect life indeed, until the mother is diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer.

From the beginning, we know about Ellie’s mother’s condition, but this is not what the book is about. Instead, it’s the story of how Ellie deals with her mother’s illness and her commitment to seeing her mother’s books published posthumously, a promise that is central to the strength and wisdom of Paul Aertker’s latest middle-grade novel.

After the death of her mother, the family moves from Paris to the other side of the Atlantic. Ellie’s mission to get her mother’s books published become central to her ability to heal from the devastating loss. Few words are wasted on the process of healing itself. Aertker focuses his attention on Ellie’s quest to recover her mother’s books from a password-protected computer. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to do this alone. The friendship from Ellie’s classmates in her new school helps her find the courage to get the book published. This is ultimately a celebration of one mother’s life and the fire she lit in the mind and heart of her remarkable young daughter.

Reading about the death of a loved one, much less writing about it, can be painful. Posthumous succeeds admirably in its depiction of that process by telling it straight-forward with little gush or unwarranted drama. Aertker tells Ellie’s story with exactitude and dignity, honoring his audience with the handling of a very difficult subject. The details of how, and how well, the family copes with the loss of life are keenly drawn in a manner that celebrates the life of the mother while pointing out the path through life that her daughter will follow.

May 18, 2020
BLAZING BULLETS in DEADWOOD, Man Hunter #3 by Jacquie Rogers – Classic Western, Humorous, Western Fiction

Honey Beaulieu is going to get her man – no matter how many tries it takes. Determined to capture the elusive Boyce McNitt, Honey is off to Deadwood Gulch despite the warnings that the dangerous road is plagued by thieves and natives. But before she can pursue the $500 bounty, she needs to take care of issues at home, including finding a shop for a pregnant seamstress, sixteen-year-old Emma, a home for eight-year-old Myles Cavanaugh, his two younger sisters, and their pregnant mother. Between her do-gooding, denying her blossoming feelings for Deputy US Marshal Sam Lancaster, and a run-in with a herd of escaped pigs determined to destroy Fry Pan Gulch, Honey barely has time to get out of town before she gets trapped by winter. Once on the road, she comes face-to-face with Sean Chaney, the Badger Claw Kid, a bounty worth $400, and is intent on capturing him, as well. With a little otherworldly, albeit not entirely helpful, advice from her ghost guide Roscoe, Honey will have to take down two dangerous fugitives. But, when she runs into a fireball-throwing ghost bent on revenge, her real adventure begins.

This third installment of the Honey Beaulieu – Man Hunter series reunites the reader with the unique cast from Honey’s previous adventures as well as introducing some new characters sure to return. This quirky cast shares in the ultimate theme of the novel, good old-fashioned “help your fellow man.” Only with the help of Agnes, Honey’s mother, the madam of the Tasty Chicken Emporium; her thoroughbred racing mule, Pickles; and Roscoe, the mind-reading ghost, is Honey able to rid the Wyoming Territory of bad guys. This theme permeates every aspect of the plot. Most of the citizens of Fry Pan Gulch perform some act of kindness for another character. From gifting poor children with small treats to hiring criminals to keep them out of trouble, the townspeople’s pay-it-forward attitude embodies the spirit of what most readers associate with a simpler, kinder time in American history. These tiny acts of humanity remind the reader that caring for people, not things, can make the most significant difference in someone’s life.

Warm and kind-hearted while remaining fiercely independent and tough, Honey is a woman ahead of her time. Much like her bonnet-wearing mule, Sassy, she refuses to be led blindly along but forges a path of her own, not allowing herself to worry about finding a husband and assume her womanly role as a homemaker but choosing instead to follow her “papa’s roving blood.” She has seen too much of what happens to weak women in her mother’s brothel, and she knows she could never allow herself the weakness she sees in most women. This poker-playing bounty hunter purses a life of freedom unheard of for 1879 and trades in the homestead for the dusty trail and freedom. She is more than sassy enough to hold the reader’s interest, surprising everyone except herself with what she can accomplish. But Honey isn’t the only strong woman in the novel. Agnes, Honey’s mother, owns and operates one of the most successful whorehouses in the Territory and manages to do it as “ethically” as possible. She cares about her employees and providing a safe environment where they choose to remain rather than to be enslaved by impossible contracts and cruel pimps. Even Emma and Myles’s mother show strong women. Emma is only a child herself, but she still manages to make a life for her and her unborn child by starting a sewing business. Myles’s mother, Ivy Mae, has been abandoned by her husband (stepfather to her children) and is also expecting a child. She is willing to sacrifice herself to feed her children. In this world where husbands are killed, and boyfriends shirk responsibilities, the women manage to survive – and sometimes flourish – in true female fashion!

Honey Beaulieu, “too scrawny to be a whore [and] . . . too tainted to be respectable,” will take the reader on a wild romp. With a fun dialect and a crazy cast, you’ll find yourself snorting with laughter. Chances are, readers new to the rip-roaring, laugh out loud, side-splitting Rogers universe will want to check out the first and second books in the series: Hot Work in Fry Pan Gulch, Honey Beaulieu, Man Hunter #1 and Sidetracked in Silver City, Honey Beaulieu, Man Hunter #2!

January 13, 2020
BALL of YARNS – From 87 Years of Worthy Experience by Franklin Ball – Memoir, Americana, Heartwarming Stories

Author Frank Ball delivers an engaging, poignant account, contrasting idyllic times growing up and the remote, icy climes of his later years in his memoir, Ball of Yarns – From 87 Years of Worthy Experience.

Born in 1931, Ball was raised in rural California. Often left on his own, the result was a series of escapades with the first object of his affections – vehicles of any kind. An early solo experiment with his father’s sedan gave him the heady feeling of “wheels unguided by human hands.” A next adventure involved rebuilding, with his brother, a neglected Chevy Roadster that Ball proudly drove to school in the sixth grade. Yet another, more terrifying event occurred when he and a friend decided it would be fun to take a farm tractor up into the mountains on a snowy day; the descent was “reminiscent of a scene from the Keystone Cops.”

In high school, he and his pals visited an inactive bomb-testing site and exploded “dud” ordnance for kicks, and he later drove a racecar and worked as a pitman for that sport. Ball served in the military during World War II, stateside, getting technical education leading to a career in electronics, in which he excelled. After retirement, he and his wife Josie pursued more exploits together, living for long stints in Antarctica, she as a cook and he as an all-round mechanical whiz. It provided an atmosphere of camaraderie where the person nearest to a disaster had to deal with it immediately or risk the whole camp’s population freezing to death.

Ball tells his life saga in engagingly short, chronological episodes, most only a page or two. He has provided a few photographs to underpin his often-amusing narrative. His writing style shows a particularly strong ability to put the reader into the frame. This is especially the case with his story of going into the salvage business with a friend. Using shallow-water diving gear, they discovered a submerged vessel near the San Diego Bay. Pirating bits of it, mostly brass propellers, they were observed, and a story made the local newspapers since the vessel was, in fact, an abandoned US Navy submarine. Equally enthralling are the many aspects revealed about his working in frigid conditions, repairing everything from aircraft fuel pumps to urinals and figuring out for his own amusement how long it takes a cup of hot coffee to freeze when setting out in the subzero cold. And even in his eighties, he is still repairing and driving vintage cars.

Ball’s well-organized reminiscences will charm anyone with a love of vehicles, machines, youthful high jinx, and general mischief. His compelling American story speaks to timeless values of passion, family, ingenuity, determination, and legacy.

**Ball of Yarns by Frank Ball releases on January 14, 2020. To get your copy, please click on Kobo or Amazon.

January 8, 2020
PINKY and the MAGICAL SECRET HE KEPT INSIDE by Kasey J. Claytor – Early Readers, Children’s Books, Fantasy & Magic

*Reviewer’s note: I read the book to a little girl who, upon seeing the photo, exclaimed, “The real Pinky!” Indeed, this extraordinary story is derived from the true story of when the author was a small child. When she fell ill, her grandmother brought her a furry pink, stuffed puppy, and a story was born.

Pinky, a stuffed toy puppy, made of pink corduroy, is given to a little girl, Francesca, after a brief visit to the hospital. She loves her stuffed friend, and the feeling is mutual. Pinky does all he can to show Francesca this after her other stuffed animals tell him of a secret award ceremony at which a prize will be given to the toy that is most loved by a child.

One night, while Francesca is asleep, Pinky and the other toys journey to the ceremony where he is elated to win the most coveted award. A medal is sewn inside his chest in the spot where humans carry their hearts. Francesca and Pinky grow old together, and one day she decides to clean and repair the stuffed dog, inside and out. In doing so, she discovers the secret medal that has been inside her stuffed friend for decades. The discovery prompts her to recall a dream she had as a little girl in which Pinky won a medal for loving her so much. The final scene is that of an elderly Francesca snuggling with her favorite childhood toy. How sweet, then, to turn the page and view a photo of the author with a stuffed pink dog.

Claytor’s prose is comprised of brief declarative sentences, appropriate for young children. The tale underscores the security and affection stuffed animals offer little ones, but also invites them to consider the reverse. Told from Pinky’s point of view, the stuffed dog learns that all toys “. . . are loved, but what is most important is your loving of humans.” He strives to show that affection by snuggling with Francesca, watching her as she dances around her room, and always being where she can see him.

The illustrations are beautiful, imbued with warmth and affection. Stuffed animals smile at the reader, the backgrounds of the pages splashed in dreamy, pastel shades of pink, aqua, and yellow. Pinky looks especially huggable and, if the author chose, would be an excellent model for a stuffed animal marketed with the book. Of course, it would have to have a secret compartment that would hold a tiny medal, one that could be held by a little hand after each reading of this delightful book.

June 6, 2019
MY CHRISTMAS ATTIC by Dennis Clausen – Heartwarming, Seasonal Literature, Family Saga

A lonely child’s fantasy life intersects with reality in this Korean War-era tale of separation and reunion.

At almost nine, Jake often escapes into his imagination, blotting out a couple of situations developing around him. He and his mother are hoping against hope that his father might someday return from the Korean War, and Jake cannot read. Words just seem to jumble up before his eyes, the other kids make fun of him, and worse – bullying has become routine. These days, Jake tries every ruse to skip school until he is referred to a reading counselor who figures it out. Jake is dyslexic, as is the counselor, and this may mean he is, in fact, more intelligent than average, as well as unusually intuitive.

Intuition begins to seep into Jake’s life as he spends time in the attic arranging the Christmas ornaments, wishing it could be “Christmas forever” for himself, and for everyone. One of the decorations is a porcelain figure of an old bearded man, Ebenezer, who holds a mysterious, unreadable scroll. Deciphering the scroll’s message will lead Jake into a world of psychic visions, ultimately leading to his conviction that his father is alive. Jake’s mother, who has built a sentiment-laden shrine to her lost love, holds on to the last shreds of hope even as her soldier husband is officially presumed dead. Together, she and Jake will learn the surprising truth.

Author Clausen (Prairie Son) has an excellent grasp of the emotive power of the past to awaken the reader to timeless influences. In this story, the Ebenezer ornament said to be 100 years old, links old customs with a child’s search for peace and reassurance in the present. As the boy travels through time with the ancient sage, he becomes stronger, better able to face his current struggles.

Clausen writes with authority about these two subjects, dyslexia and its effects on the mind, and “The Forgotten War” in Korea, where thousands of American soldiers remain unaccounted for to this day. He also links the earnest, childlike wishes of Jake to find solace and create solutions to the pervasive sadness of a mother mourning her husband while doing her best to support and encourage their only child.

The novel begins and ends in a present-day framework in which we learn that Jake has incorporated his childhood adventures into an adult striving to expand the “forever Christmas” concept to a broader spectrum.

Plausible fantasy with a clear connection to our national past composed by a practiced wordsmith, My Christmas Attic can be appreciated as a classic seasonal saga with a cinematic quality that speaks of broader possibilities.

May 9, 2019
BRYCE BUMPS HIS HEAD: A Sierra the Search Dog Novel by Robert D. Calkins – Middle Grade, Search & Rescue, Dogs

Bryce Bumps His Head: A Sierra the Search Dog Novel is a heartwarming chapter book perfect for the young reader who loves animals. Despite being the fourth book in the Sierra the Search Dog series so far, readers will not have any trouble jumping right in with this story of a dog’s not so typical day on the job.

Sierra and her handler, fifteen-year-old Bryce, are having a practice session when Rusty the Great Dane, and Sierra’s best friend, escapes his house and is set on playing with Sierra, but Sierra takes her job seriously and only plays with her friend once she finishes her job. The next day, a Girl Scout Troop is hiking on a rather cold and rainy day. Mrs. James almost cancels the hike but decides it would be a great opportunity to teach her girls how to stay safe in inclement weather. At the same time, Bryce is giving a rundown of the basics of Search and Rescue to David and his dog Harper.

After giving a successful survival lesson to her troops, Mrs. James is negligent in keeping track of the Girl Scouts on the hike back and notices two Scouts are missing and cannot be found anywhere. Bryce and Sierra are called in to help in the search, and Sierra catches onto the scent right away after diverging off the beaten path. The rescue mission then takes a dangerous turn and Sierra finds herself in a situation where she doesn’t only have to save a missing girl in the woods, but her own handler and companion. She must rely on her training from Bryce to save the day.

Robert D. Calkins delivers a charming story for middle-grade readers. The writing style is relatively simple while still being engaging and exceptionally educational, teaching many lessons on service animal etiquette, survival skills, following directions, and always trying your best in any situation. And while the author includes educational aspects to tell the story, readers will have to fill in details with their own imaginings of the characters’ surroundings, which is especially difficult if readers are not familiar with the Pacific Northwest. That being said, this shortcoming is rather minor as readers will be too busy caught up in the suspenseful tale of Sierra trying to save the day.

Set in the beautiful landscape of Green Mountain along the Suiatte River in Washington State, readers will be instantly enchanted by the courageous Sierra and her young handler Bryce, as she aids in the search for lost people in the wilderness.

April 23, 2019