This page contains books written by Reg Down. They are used in Waldorf schools and homeschooling circles throughout the world. The kindergarten teachers glean tales to tell orally or read at rest time, while the teachers in grades one and two read the whole book. Later the children are old enough to read them for themselves.
For further information on these books, including sample stories to read or to download for free, and to see the many wonderful reviews these books have garnered, you can visit his author's site here.
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The Seven Saws of Speedy Weedy and Mosey Dawde: and other tales of wisdom and nonsense.
A collection of stories both short and long(er). Inside you'll find nature stories, fables, mystery tales, wonder tales, fairy tales, humorous tales and of course the seven saws of Speedy Weedy Hare and his unbeatable nemesis, Mosey Dawdle the Tortoise.
Suitable for children from late kindergarten through grade four.
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 120 pages. $14.95 Purchase book
Midwest Book Review: "The Seven Saws of Speedy Weedy and Mosey Dawdle by Reg Down is an impressive and unfailingly entertaining collection of 26 stories ... Perfect for family bedtime story hours or rainy day family entertainment … very highly recommended for family, school, and community library collections." This review was a top pick "Reviewer's Choice".
Now available! The Alphabet: how Pine Cone and Pepper Pot (with the help of Tiptoes Lightly and Farmer John) learned Tom Nutcracker and June Berry their letters.
Summer is almost over and Tom Nutcracker is soon to go to school. But deep in the forest on his father’s farm two gnomes called Pine Cone and Pepper Pot are worried. What if the school does not teach Tom his letters properly? What if the teacher messes the alphabet up? Then Tom might spell the Pine Cone as NEPI NOEC, or Pepper Pot as PREPREP TOP. He might even spell the famous Tiptoes Lightly as TOESPIT THIGLLY. That would be a disaster. A huge disaster! So the two gnomes, with the help of Tiptoes Lightly and Farmer John, set out to teach Tom his letters. Tom’s younger sister, June Berry, insists on being taught too, and never will they, or anyone else who reads this tale, forget their ABC’s – or their LMNOP’s or QRST’s either.
Whether your child knows their alphabet or not Pine Cone and Pepper Pot guarantee that they will see the letters and their shapes with new and creative eyes. The Alphabet is filled with stories, songs, pictures, plays and adventures silly and bold.
The Alphabet is a large format, full color book, suitable for children from late kindergarten to grade three – and for teachers seeking to enrich the art of learning to write.
Full color, 8.5 x 11 format, 90 pages, $24.95 Purchase book
PS - the humorous use of the word 'learned' instead of 'taught' in the subtitle, while colloquial, is correct. It dates from circa 1300 and extends into our time in the southern USA, western Ireland and rural England. I am in the luminous company of Shakespeare, Disraeli, Wodehouse et al. in its use. See this PDF of the Oxford English Dictionary for the full definition and history. :)
Midwest Book Review: "The Alphabet is very highly recommended and is as subtly educational as it is sheer fun!"
Waldorf Today Review: "If Waldorf Today awarded a Children's Book of the Year, The Alphabet would be the hands-down choice for 2015!"
Amazon Reviews: "Great story with beautiful illustrations. A must-have for your personal library." / "Captivating story. One of my favorite Waldorf homeschool tools to date."
La Abeja que Perdió su Zumbido
The Spanish edition of The Bee who lost his Buzz
La Abeja que Perdió su Zumbido es la primera aventura de Los Cuentos de Puntitas de Pies. La historia narra los andares del hada Puntitas de Pies y su amigo Ratón Antón. Primero van a ayudar a Abeja pues el gruñón del Sr. Cactus le ha arrebatado su zumbido. Después ayudan a Lombriz que se ha quedado tiesa y no puede ir a casa. En otro de sus andares navegan hacia el mar para desenredar a Pulpo que solo puede contar hasta siete y cada vez que intenta contar sus piernas se le enredan.
La Abeja que Perdió su Zumbido es una historia llena de magia e inocencia que es apta para contar a los niños pequeños o para que los niños la lean.
Picture book, watercolor paintings, 8x10, soft cover, 40 pages. Retail: $11.95 Purchase book
Los Cuentos de Puntitas de Pies
The Spanish edition of The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
Los Cuentos de Puntitas de Pies se compone de tres aventuras: La Abeja que Perdió su Zumbido, Cuervo Calabaza, y La Gansa Lucy y el Medio-Huevo. Ilustrados de manera espléndida y cariñosa por el artista-autor, los cuentos son cómicos, optimistas y divertidos. Son cuentos de la naturaleza que contienen inocencia y magia, aptos para leer a niños pequeños o para que los niños los lean.
Illustrated by the author. Format: 6x9, 110 pages, perfect bound, 110 pages. $14.95 Purchase book
A Tangle of Tales: short stories for children
Newly edited and expanded: a collection of fifty-two stories for children. Inside you’ll find nature tales, riddle tales, fables, fairy tales, poems, and creation myths both serious and sanguine. Suitable for children from kindergarten through grade four. Tons of illustrations and drawings.
Many of these stories are suitable for teachers too!
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 128 pages. $14.95 Purchase book
Review: "A Tangle of Tales is a great "read-aloud" repository for homeroom, storytime, bedtime, or the simple joy of parent-child reading time - highly recommended." Midwest Book Review
King Red and the white Snow
King Red is a red king, everything is red, his cape, his crown, even his little finger. One winter’s day it snows. The snow is the whitest King Red has ever seen and he just has to go a-walking. So begins the first of six tales centered on the wonderful world of color, a world children experience as vivid and full of life. Inside you’ll find The Rosy Princess and the yellow Elf, The orange Gnome from Spain, the melancholic Boo-hoo Blue and more. Come visit!
Suitable for kindergarten through grade 3. Illustrated in watercolor. 44 pages. 8x10 format. $11.95 Purchase book
PS - it has a winter cover but the book is not a book for winter. :)
“Beautifully illustrated in watercolor, King Red and the white Snow by author/illustrator Reg Down, is eminently suitable and highly recommended for children. Certain to be enduringly popular … King Red and the white Snow is an ideal bedtime picture book for families.” Midwest Book Review
The Nine Lives of Pinrut the Turnip Boy.
On Amazon or as a Kindle ebook.
This book began as a lark but kept on growing - especially when teachers and parents contacted me and said their kids loved this slightly zany, fast-paced tale. His fans have been of mixed ages, too: grade 3, 4, 5, 6 - also the kids in a grade 8 were highly amused by him and inspired to write similar tales of their own as part of their writing block.
There was once a turnip. He was an ordinary turnip, one you’d pass by without noticing. He grew in a row of turnips, one of many rows of turnips in a field that was one of many fields of turnips. That’s how ordinary this turnip was. Neither bigger, nor smaller, nor fatter, nor skinnier, nor longer, nor sweeter, nor more peppery: that’s how he was. And he had company, as you can imagine, for there were lots like him—thousands in fact.One summer’s evening this turnip up and left. He’d had enough. He pulled himself from the ground, turned upside down, and took off on his leafy stalks. He ambled along the row and out of the field.“Hey, you can’t do that!” cried the other turnips.“Watch me,” said the turnip.And watch him we will, through all nine lives: in America, Canada, China, New Zealand, New Guinea, Mars and Wobbles. Naturally he has a few adventures on the way, but his skills and savvy, indeed, his sheer existence, also come to the attention of the devilish boss of a nefarious GMO seed corporation called Nonsanto. Need we say more?!
Sample chapter: The First Life of Pinrut the Turnip Boy See the Stories and Tales or Story List pages on my author's website for more lives.
Paperback, 132 pages, 6x9 format. Purchase Book: Amazon $14.95 or Kindle $9.95
Review: "With The Nine Lives of Pinrut the Turnip Boy author Reg Down again demonstrates a lively imagination combined with superbly crafted storytelling skills that will engage and entertain young readers ranging from grade 3 to grade 6. Very highly recommended for school and community library collection ... " The Midwest Book Review
ADAM'S ALPHABET
Adam and Sophia are twins. Sophia has wings and Adam doesn’t. One day their parents leave. “Don’t go into the forest,” they said, but Adam did. Adam had given his word and broken it. He is lost and alone, and his voice is gone. Sophia flies overhead and drops a piece of paper. It flutters into the forest. Except for a lock of hair the paper is blank. Immediately, adventures and experiences unfold for Adam, some common, some extraordinary, some unearthly and beautiful. Letters appear on the paper as Adam wakes up to his ‘alphabet’. Slowly, painfully, joyously Adam wins his word back.
Adam’s Alphabet is an alphabet tale unlike any written before. Multilayered and broad, it reads as a children’s tale, but underneath run deeper waters that adults can also plumb for profit and pleasure if they take delight in the spoken word.
Adam’s Alphabet is suitable for children aged 7 to 12. Sample chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Paperback, 140 pages, 6 x 9 format, $16.50 Purchase book
Midwest Book Review "Adam's Alphabet is the latest children's book by Reg Down and continues to document his impressive storytelling talents. Exceptionally entertaining and original, Adam's Alphabet is especially recommended to the attention of young readers ages 7 to 12, and would prove to be a popular addition to family, school and community library collections."
"A beautiful journey through the alphabet: My children and I really enjoyed this story of a boy who loses his family, and his voice, and has an adventure experiencing the essence of each letter of the alphabet as a message unfolds with the addition of each letter. This is not so much a beginner's intro to the letters, as a deepening of the experience of the letters, more for the over-7 child. Reg Down has such a gift for stories that seem simple on the surface, yet have layers of meaning waiting to be discovered." Amazon Review
The Adventures of Jayne: the cat who was a dog.
Jayne is a cat, raised as a dog. Found as a new-born she is brought up with a litter of puppies. Jayne does not turn out to be just any kind of dog, she is the top dog, the main-man dog, the king-of-the-castle dog. She holds her tail up straight when she walks and brooks no nonsense. When they go for a stroll everyone has to stay behind her: her brothers and sisters, her doggy-daddy and doggy-mommy, even the human she keeps as chief backscratcher and can opener. Jayne is a tough cookie—as tough as nails and as cool as cucumbers come—as she proves in (almost) all her adventures: with Big-Bad and Bengal Bob, flying and skydiving, as lifesaver extraordinaire and later as mayor of the great city of New Philawashingyork.
The Adventures of Jayne is a fun tale for family reading or for children to read themselves. Suitable for grade 1 to grade 5.
Paperback, 130 pages, 6 x 9 format, $15.95 Purchase book
Reviews: "... on a whim and want everyone to know how great these stories are. I read this book with my children this summer after buying the book on a whim and want everyone to know how great these stories are. We have enjoyed books by Reg Down many times, and this one has taken first place. Jayne is strong and flawed and funny and ridiculous. My 10 year old and 6 year old children love the book as does their 63 year old grandmother. Charming, charming tales." Amazon review
"What fun! My 6 and 8 year old were fully engaged as we journeyed with Jane. At the close of the book both of them asked, "So when does then next Jayne book come out?" Her adventures were imaginative, playful and exciting." Amazon Review
The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly
Available on Amazon!
Tiptoes Lightly loves the sea, and when Farmer John and his children, Tom Nutcracker and June Berry, drive to the seaside for Thanksgiving she goes along with them. Tom and June discover a freshly uncovered cave in bluffs that run along the shore. They call it their Treasure Cave just for fun, but then find seven beautiful pearls and a finely wrought golden chain buried in the sand. Tiptoes sets out to find the story behind the pearls, and soon a delicate web of tales begins to unfold. Stretching back to the creation of the world, they weave together until Tiptoes and the children are caught up in the ongoing drama between the Sea King and his lovely daughter.
This book is older in tone than the other Tiptoes Lightly books, and while it is intended for family reading, it is more suited to grade 1 through grade 4 children.
172 pages, 6x9 format, $16.75 Purchase book
Sample chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 14
Reviews: "Reg Down has done it again in his unique style—magnificently imaginative and utterly entertaining. The Treasure Cave is a heart-warming gift to families to help find a new meaning in Thanksgiving through the wonder of Tiptoes Lightly. Five Stars!" David Kennedy, Waldorf Today
And a great review from Midwest Book Review: "A deftly crafted novel by an experienced and talented author and illustrator of books for children, "The Treasure Cave" continues the Tiptoes Lightly stories with its superbly drawn characters and thoroughly engaging storyline. Wonderfully entertaining, "The Treasure Cave" is especially recommended for young readers ages 6 through 10 and will make an enduringly popular addition to both school and community library children's fiction collections. Also very highly recommended for young readers are Reg Down's previous children's books: "Tales of Tiptoes Lightly", "Eggs for the Hunting", "The Lost Lagoon", "The Magic Knot ~ and other tangles!" and "The Midsummer Mouse."
The Midsummer Mouse: midsummer tales of Tiptoes Lightly and the Summer Queen
A book of midsummer mirth, misadventure, mystery, and delight!
The sun is rising higher into the sky every day. Summer has come and Farmer John builds a great pile of wood for the Midsummer's Eve festival taking place on his land. Tom Nutcracker and June Berry's whole school is coming to celebrate. June Berry forgets a basket by the oak tree when they are helping their dad build the wood pile. A small detail to us, perhaps, but one which leads Jeremy Mouse on a merry dance as Jemima Mouse tries to preserve the cookie for the festival. Meanwhile, Pine Cone and Pepper Pot are not opening their door to anyone other than Tiptoes (and even then only reluctantly). Their beards, it seems, are entangled. Hopelessly entangled. This sends Tiptoes all over the forest to find a way to get pine resin out of beards. Then there is the problem of Ompliant the Elephant. What are Tom and June to do with him? How will they keep him out of sight? But the clever kids come up with a wonderful idea to hide a pachyderm in plain sight. Finally, the Summer Queen begins to appear here and there, and in the end joins the festival and tells The Tale of Turana before mysteriously vanishing before the crowd.
The Midsummer Mouse is a summer tale, full of midsummer mirth, misadventure, mystery and delight. It will bring sparkles to children's eyes, and laughter to adults, too. Suitable, as always with Tiptoes Lightly tales, for family reading from kindergarten through age 10 or so.
Paperback Price $16.50, 138 pages, 6x9 format / Kindle price $9.95
Purchase Book on Amazon / on Kindle
Review: "Tiptoes is at it again! Just in time for Midsummer, another in the Tiptoes Lightly series. Reg Down is a masterful storyteller and The Midsummer Mouse entertains through its many twists and turns leading to the appearance of the Summer Queen. An unbroken stream of unbridled imagination - just what children (and their parents) need now. If you're not a Tiptoes fan, this is your chance to 'get on board.'" David Kennedy, Waldorf Today
The Darkling Beasts, a 'young adult' title suitable for grade 7 through high school and older. Dramatic, yet with lots of humor, it has an underlying serious side. Below is the synopsis.
Alf’s parents lose their home in the great financial downturn of the early twenty-first century. They take Alf and his friend, Siggy, to a visiting carnival to have a bit of fun. Alf and Siggy get stuck in a dilapidated Hall of Mirrors and end up miles away with the beer belly owner and his amply x-sized mum. That’s when the boys discover a portal in the Hall of Mirrors. It leads to a world turned completely inside out to ours. In Instar, the sun lies at the center of a great sphere, waxing and waning during the day and vanishing at night. They meet the slim and beautiful Mia, who takes them into her tilting—the tall, slender buildings that rise above the forest and sway with the wind. The tiltings, however, are surrounded by a high defense wall with vicious spikes on top. Living in the day is fine, or so it seems to an outsider, but when night comes the gates are shut against the darkling beasts that rage outside.
Filled with drama and humor, The Darkling Beasts is a cautionary tale; it addresses some of the great issues the upcoming generation will have to face.
Print Edition: 9 x 6 format, 184 pages, $15.50 Purchase Book
The Kindle Edition $7.95 Purchase Book
Review: " ... the best sort of reading for teens (and those of us who are older): The Darkling Beasts is a captivating page-turner that will keep any young person reading and reading and reading." Nancy Parsons, Waldorf Books
The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
The Bee who lost his Buzz, Pumpkin Crow, Lucy Goose and the Half-egg
Tiptoes Lightly lives in an acorn high in the branches of a Great Oak Tree. Her tree sits on a knoll overlooking Running River, and she and her friends have a host of adventures. First they help the bee who lost his buzz – snagged on a thorn belonging to grumpy Mr. Cactus! Then they visit the house of Pine Cone and Pepper Pot and sail down to the sea to untangle Octopus – he’s too young to count his legs properly and gets them mixed up!
Later they journey to Snowy Mountain to hear from Jack Frost what kind of being he really is – and Jack tells the dramatic tale of how he came to be. Finally, after many adventures big and small they find out who the real mother of the half-egg is – the one that Lucy Goose found in the mud and is determined to hatch along with her own eggs.
The flagship book and best seller, it has simple, innocent and magical tales set in nature. Humorous, reverent, sanguine and droll, they are suitable for reading to young children (kindergarten to grade 3) or for young children to read (grades 2 – 4).
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 104 pages. $14.95 - see discount chart.
“I wish there was something like this (Tiptoes Lightly) when my two children were growing up. It’s a wonderful book.” Book Review Cafe
The Festival of Stones ~ Autumn and Winter Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
Tiptoes Lightly and her friends celebrate the best of the autumn festivals: Michaelmas, Halloween, Martinmas, Advent and Christmas. Many adventures are had and festival tales told: at Michaelmas Farmer John recounts ‘The Most Beautiful Dragon in the Whole World’ to his children, Tom Nutcracker and June Berry, and on Christmas day he reads them ‘The Burden Bull of Scotland’. Tiptoes also tells tales – her favorites being ‘The Myth of Ella-jah’ which recounts how the animals were created, and the story of ‘The Sun-child and the Birds’ which she tells on Christmas eve.
On the way, Jeremy Mouse meets Olivia who lives inside an olive tree, is frightened at Halloween (by a You-know-what!), and almost drowns in Soggy Mire because the ice is too thin for sliding on – luckily he is saved by Mr. Owl the Vegetarian! Finally, Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse build the first, and finest, snow-mouse the world has ever seen.
Capturing the inner mood of nature during autumn and winter, these lavishly illustrated tales are reverent, humorous and sacred. Suitable for reading to children (kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 to 4).
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 104 pages. Retail: $14.95 - see discount chart.
“This is a fascinating book by an extraordinarily imaginative writer.” The Reading Tub Review
Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant ~ Spring Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
The title refers to one of many tales told in the course of a springtime adventure ~ and the book is, indeed, all about spring, when nature is alive and abundant and renewing. Jemima Mouse has tiny mouslings, the like of which Ompliant the Elephant cannot believe – they’re as furless and pink as a jelly bean! On they way, Ompliant has his leg pulled by the jokester Chit-Chat the Chipmunk, and later Tom Nutcracker bravely follows Ompliant’s giant footprints deep into the forest. He sees Ompliant at close quarters and scoots up a tree in terror. Now Tom is hopelessly treed, and there’s only one body big enough, with a trunk long and strong enough, to help him down. Luckily Tiptoes Lightly is there to build her magic bridges.
Other adventures are had too. Tiptoes sails down to the sea on a leaf and meets Spinner the Dolphin. She guides him up Running River, and she and Tom and June Berry show him his first flowers. Then Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes sail to Pixie Island and hear from Miranda how the blue and yellow Forget-me-not flower got its name. Afterwards, while visiting a huge boulder, Tiptoes and the gnomes are told by the rock spirit how ‘The Rock’ came to be sitting in the middle of the forest – because of Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant, of course!
Extensively illustrated by the author, these are magical, humorous and reverent tales set in nature. Suitable for reading to children (kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 – 4).
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 108 pages. Retail: $14.95 - see discount chart.
"Love it! We have read all of the Tiptoes series and would HIGHLY recommend them to any child." Amazon Review
The Magic Knot ~ and other tangles!
The Magic Knot is a making-tale comedy starring Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes. They decide, since it is soon to be Tiptoes' birthday and she has no furniture in her house, to make her one table and three chairs. A simple task for clever gnomes - so we would think! But, from the finding of the 'perfect' branch to getting the table and chairs to the top of the Great Oak Tree where Tiptoes' acorn house swings back and forth, things go awry. On the way they get help from a host of friends: Ompliant the Elephant, Jeremy Mouse, the Carpenter Ants, Chiron the Pony and Spin-a-lot the Spider (to name just a few). Finally, when her surprise birthday party rolls around, Tiptoes tells the enchanting tale of how she came to live in the Great Oak Tree as a daughter of Father Sun and Mother Wind.
The Magic Knot is full of innocent, sanguine humor. Suitable for reading to children (kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 – 4).
An additional story, The Tale of None, is found at the end of the book. It is about a ladybug who had no spots—none at all!—until she completes her spot-finding journey to India, Africa and America.
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 104 pages. Retail: $14.95 - see discount chart.
"This book is a must-have for any child, right along with all of Reg Down's books. We have read this book many times and you will not be disappointed." Amazon Review
The Lost Lagoon ~ Adventures of Tiptoes Lightly and Greenleaf the Sailor
It is spring and Running River is in full flood. Tiptoes Lightly and Jeremy Mouse visit Greenleaf the Sailor and venture forth in his newly made leaf boat. Soon they are joined by Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the Gnomes and together they search for the Lost Lagoon the frogs have been so beautifully singing about.
Meanwhile, Farmer John reads The Adam Tales to Tom Nutcracker and June Berry. Later, Tom impulsively rides off on Chiron and he too comes to the Lost Lagoon. What happens on this night, with its majestic, rising moon, is filled with a wonder and magic that won't soon be forgotten.
With tons of illustrations and drawings, this book is suitable for reading to children from late kindergarten to grade 3, or used as a reader in grades 3 to 4.
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 130 pages. Retail: $16.50 - see discount chart.
“The Lost Lagoon” is a fun and recommended pick for younger readers." Midwest Book Review
Eggs for the Hunting ~ starring Pine Cone and Pepper Pot and the illimitable Tiptoes Lightly
Spring is full of life and life is full of eggs, all sorts of eggs: great cosmic eggs and tiny butterfly eggs, salmon eggs and bird eggs, rabbit eggs and special eggs being gilded and painted by two gnomes called Pine Cone and Pepper Pot. They have been told (gossiped, to be correct) that Farmer John’s children, Tom and June, are going to give them special eggs for Easter, and they decide to reciprocate. However, if you are a gnome, a small gnome—even if you are two small gnomes—then the simplest of tasks (such as finding a bird who does not mind giving you a couple of their eggs) can be a problem!!!
Woven into the fabric of the book are many tales, myths and legends: Pepper Pot reads the history of King Karnac and the Turning of Time, Madam Two-Pecks tells her chicks how the universe was created from the World Egg, and the Wise Salmon in Running River tells the fingerlings about the great cycle, the Egg of Life. ‘Eggs for the Hunting’ is a spring tale, a wonder tale, affirming the joy, humor and mystery of life.
Suitable for reading to children (kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 – 4).
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 108 pages. Retail: $14.95 - see discount chart.
"If you aren't a Tiptoes fan yet, Eggs for the Hunting, the seventh book in the Tiptoes Tales, is a great place to start. It's a wonderful book for young children, highly imaginative and utterly entertaining." Waldorf Today
The Starry Bird ~ an Easter tale
One morning an egg appears in the meadow below the Great Oak Tree. Neither Jeremy Mouse nor the fairy Tiptoes Lightly have ever seen such a huge egg – over a foot tall! They go to Farmer John’s in search of an answer, but without any luck, and when they return the egg has grown!
Thus begins an adventure which involves most everybody on the farm – human, animal and sprite. The egg, later hidden deep in the forest, keeps growing and finally hatches in a beautiful way on Easter Sunday.
The Starry Bird is an Easter tale with healthy doses of humor, adventure, and just plain fun. But underneath, in a form suitable for children, run the mystery-questions of life, death and resurrection that lie at the heart of Easter.
Suitable for reading to children (kindergarten to grade 3 or 4) or for young children to read (grades 2 – 4).
Illustrated by the author-artist, 6x9, soft cover, perfect bound, 104 pages. Retail: $14.95 - see discount chart.
"Parents and children will enjoy The Starry Bird, the perfect book to send along with a favorite young person on their spring vacation or in their Easter basket." Midwest Book Review
Sir Gillygad and the Gruesome Egg
Sir Gillygad is a knight, a doughty knight who rides about on his trusty frog called Gorf. They venture forth on adventures bold and exciting: to the Twinkle, to Holey Hill, to the Plain of Dreams—even as far as World's End. Then rumors are heard, rumors of an egg, a Gruesome Egg, with two leggs, a left leg and a right leg, and the leggs were bird’s leggs—which makes sense in an eggy sort of way. It is haunting the Daark Forest close to the Mumbly Mews and the gerwine Greneff. So off Sir Gillygad gallops (well, hoppedy-hops), there to meet and confront this unique and remarkable beast.
Sir Gillygad and the Gruesome Egg is an adventuresome tale, suitable for children aged 9 to 12 or thereabouts—and adults too, if they still are young at heart and open to the wonders that speak to the mystery of life and becoming.
59 illustrations + 23 capitals, 6x9 format, soft cover, 168 pages, $16.65.
The Bee who Lost his Buzz ~ a picture book from The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
For years my readers have been telling me that I should illustrate my books in color. Well folks, here is the first adventure from The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly.
The Bee who Lost his Buzz follows Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse as they help the Bee whose buzz has been snagged by grumpy Mr. Cactus. Then, after Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes unplug the apple that’s stuck in Ompliant the Elephant’s trunk, Tiptoes helps the Worm who has lost his squirm and cannot wiggle back into the safety of his home under the ground. Later, along with the red-capped gnomes, they sail down Running River to the ocean to help little Octopus untangle his legs. He’s too young to count them properly (he can only count to seven), and whenever he tries gets them hopelessly mixed up.
The Bee who Lost his Buzz is an innocent and magical tale suitable for reading to young children or for young children to read. It is an ideal book for children from preschool through grade one or two - or as a reader in grade 3.
Picture book, watercolor paintings, 8x10, soft cover, 40 pages. Retail: $11.95.
"The Bee Who Lost His Buzz” is ideal for teaching children how much fun reading can be." Midwest Book Review
The Cricket and the Shepherd Boy ~ A Christmas Tale
A young shepherd hears a cricket singing at his feet. The cricket speaks to him and foretells that the coming winter will be both special and especially cold. Then he disappears back into the grass.
The winter is indeed especially harsh, but on a star-studded night the cricket and the shepherd boy make their way to a manger huddled low between two hills. There they find a mother and father with a child who radiates light and warmth into the world.
This innocent and warmhearted nativity tale is intended for parents to read to their children at Christmas time. While the story itself is timeless, this tale is most suitable for children from kindergarten to grade four or five. As a reader it is grade 3 or 4.
Picture book, watercolor paintings, 8x10, soft cover, 40 pages. Retail: $11.95 - see discount chart.
" ... highly recommended ... brings the generous and reverent spirit of Christmas to life ..." Midwest Book Review
The Fetching of Spring
A Parzival novel suitable for grade 8 and up. Soft cover; 248 pages. Retail: $16.50 - see discount chart.
"The Fetching of Spring is wonderful reading of the very best sort: a story true and strong, told with joy and wonder, clarity and hope. This one is not to be missed." Waldorf Books
"Open up this book and inside you will discover magic pictures and words to fuel your imagination, not to mention change the way you look at our modern world and the times we live in; a delightful fairy tale for adults! it is truly a Grail story for our times." Amazon Review