GAP FAMILY BLOG

Just think of everything the brain and nervous system do for us. This book will help you learn about the different parts of the brain and some of the nerves that control the various body functions while you are awake or asleep. Glossary, Activity pages, too.
A BRAINY REFRAIN


Whether playing soccer or star gazing, these cuddly koalas love to do everything together. Come along on an adventure from the bottom of the ocean all the way to outer space with these two best friends.

ELLIOT & ANASTACIA


A boy and his war veteran uncle share a frank discussion about God and his uncle’s paralysis. The boy learns that Uncle B is unable to do many things, but having a good time isn’t one of them.


BUSTER BEAR & UNCLE B


Follow the water droplets in their journey from the clouds to the earth and back to the clouds again. Written in a lyrical style, the book takes a new angle on the water cycle by showing the feelings it evokes in people.

THE WATER CYCLE: WATER PLAY SERIES bk 1


A comical tale about a hungry badger and a protective mother pig who will stop at nothing to protect her piglets. The story reflects the challenges of farm life and the authentic behaviors of both animals. You will even find out why badgers eat grubs today!

BUFFALOED BADGER hardcover and softcover

Janet: Thank you very much for interviewing me.

GAP: Thank you, Alex, for stopping in to share SLIME & ALL and WATER PLAY with us. Readers can purchase Slime & All here and Water Play here. We are proud to add these titles to the ever-growing line of quality titles from Guardian Angel Publishing. Be sure to follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss any new releases.

J. Aday Kennedy, the Differently-Abled Writer and Speaker, was recently interviewed by Joan Hallmark for KLTV Channel 7's "Proud of East Texas" segment. She is the author of Klutzy Kantor, Stella the Fire Farting Dragon and Marta's Guarganutan Wings. You can visit her online at http://jadaykennedy.com/index.html or http://www.brainfartexplosion.blogspot.com/

GAP FAMILY BLOG WELCOMES Jennifer Prus, author and illustrator of Lonely Little Leaf.  Congratulations on the release of Lonely Little Leaf. Please tell us more about it.

Jennifer: Lonely Little Leaf follows the last leaf of an old oak tree who wants to fall, but cannot. Many forest friends come along to encourage the leaf to come down. The leaf does not realize photosynthesis is diminishing, changing the leaf from a beautiful green into a deep red. Once the transformation is complete, the leaf finally falls.

What was the inspiration for this book?

Jennifer: I was inspired to write the story one fall day when I went outside to play with my daughter and noticed a single leaf on an oak tree fluttering in the wind. At first I thought, how sad, but then realized that it still needed to change it’s color. I thought, what a wonderful parable of waiting on God’s timing.

What medium did you use for illustrating this book?

Jennifer: Lonely Little Leaf uses a combination of cut paper and painted tissue paper. I have always enjoyed cut paper and the folk art style it gives.

What is your favorite moment from the book?

Jennifer: My favorite part is when the leaf awakes and finds that it has fallen.

What is your favorite illustration from the book?

Jennifer: My favorite illustration is the wise old owl. He looks quite distinguished, full of knowledge and ready to share it.

Did you have to do any research for this book?

Jennifer: I had to do research on the physical attributes of the animals within the book to truly capture their characteristics and voice.

Is this your first published book?

Jennifer: Yes.

Congratulations! We’d love to hear more about you.

Jennifer: My passion for writing includes children’s picture books, young adult novels, screen plays, and very detailed grocery lists!

Do you have any book signing events or book tours scheduled for Lonely Little Leaf?

Jennifer: I will be visiting the Crossroads Christian Academy, located in Marquette, Michigan to share the Lonely Little Leaf on March 19th.

How can our readers learn more about you and any upcoming Lonely Little Leaf events?

Jennifer: Readers can visit http://www.jenniferprus.com/ for the most updated events.

Thank you for stopping in to share Lonely Little Leaf with us. Readers can purchase a copy direct from GAP’s website. We are proud to add it to the ever-growing line of quality titles from Guardian Angel Publishing.

GAP FAMILY BLOG WELCOMES Dixie Phillips, AUTHOR OF Apron Strings. Congratulations on the release of Apron Strings. Please tell us more about it.

Grandma Eleanor and Lexi are attached at the heart. For Lexi’s seventh birthday, Grandma Eleanor sews her a beautiful apron. When her grandmother gets sick, Lexi is comforted by the heavenly clues she discovers in the treasured apron. This inspiration sensation is guaranteed to help mend broken hearts and shape small souls. Apron pattern included, too!

What was the inspiration for this book?

Dixie: My paternal grandmother helped raise me. When I was a little girl, she sewed me an apron exactly like the one in Apron Strings. When she passed away, I experienced some deep grief. In the midst of my sorrow, I was rummaging through a dresser drawer and rediscovered my little apron. As I studied each little stitch, God comforted my heart. I sat mesmerized by the clues my apron held.

What is your favorite moment from the book?

Dixie: I love when Lexi tells her grandmother that the apron strings will be tied around her heart forever.

Is this your first published book?

Dixie: No. I have six other titles with Guardian Angel Publishing: Angel Eyes, Stubby’s Destiny, One Noble Journey, Baby Jesus is Missing, Cinderfella and the Furry Godmother, and Stilts the Stork.

We’d love to hear more about you.

Dixie: My husband and I have been married for thirty-four years and been honored to serve the Gospel Lighthouse Church and Academy in Floyd, Iowa, for thirty years. Paul and I have four grown children, three grandboys, and one granddaughter. I am a ghostwriter and also enjoy songwriting. Our hands are full, but our hearts are even fuller.

Do you have any book signing events or book tours scheduled for Apron Strings?

Dixie: In the Spring, I will begin my book signings.

How can our readers learn more about you and any upcoming Apron Strings events?

Dixie: They can go to my blog at www.writing4littleones.blogspot.com or my website at www.phillipsandphillipsmusic.com and www.floydslighthouse.com.

Thank you for stopping in to share Apron Strings with us. Readers can purchase a copy direct from GAP’s website. We are proud to add it to the ever-growing line of quality titles from Guardian Angel Publishing.

M E D I A R E L E A S E


CONTACT: Donna McDine, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian Angel Kids Ezine

Email: submissions@guardian-angel-kids.com
Website: http://guardian-angel-kids.com/


For Immediate Release




Welcome to the March 2012 issue of Guardian Angel Kids Ezine (GAK). This month our theme for GAK is The Human Body.

Did you know that you lose 60 – 100 strands of hair every day? Or that fingernails grow nearly four times faster than toenails? The distance around the earth is 25,000 miles. If you measured the length of all of a child's blood vessels, the total would be 60,000 miles. In an adult, it would be 100,000 miles or nearly four times the distance around the earth.

And that bothersome earwax that seems to build up so frequently? It protects the delicate inner ear. Our bodies are indeed complex and amazing.

Come explore the world of "The Human Body" through featured books, poetry, activities, engaging stories, and articles http://www.guardian-angel-kids.com/.

LETTER FROM THE POETRY EDITOR: Donna J. Shepherd

FEATURED BOOKS:
Muscles Make Us Move: The Sum of Our Parts Series - Flip Book by Bill Kirk & Artist Eugene Ruble

Human Anatomy Video by Dejan Kober

CHILDREN'S POETRY, ACTIVITIES, SHORT STORIES, AND ARTICLES:

In the Bone Zone by Bill Kirk – learn about the skeleton through this amusing poem.

Games and Activities to Teach the Human Body by Kathy Stemke – games and activities that require whole body participation will attract children’s imaginations.
If I Have to be Normal by Juliana Jones and illustrated by Clara Batton Smith – finding a healthy balance even if you don’t follow the “normal” way.

Listen Up! by Laura Thomas and illustrated by Jack Foster – school girl Jasmine discovers the hard way why we are created with two ears and just one mouth.

Excuse Me, I Burped! by Layne Fleming – you open your mouth to speak and out comes a burp. You’re embarrassed. You wonder why you burped.

Read Aloud Tips and Strategies: How Educators and Parents Can Sustain Interest by Dorit Sasson – both educators and parents play a strong role in ensuring young readers are engaged during read aloud time.

Visit Guardian Angel Kid today and http://www.guardian-angel-kids.com/  and enjoy a child safe and ad free Ezine.

We also invite you to stay connected with Guardian Angel Kids through our Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guardian-Angel-Kids-Ezine/163785080346247.

Please feel free to drop Editor-in-Chief, Donna McDine an email at submissions@guardian-angel-kids.com and let them know what you think of Guardian Angel Kids and what you'd like to see in the future. They aim to please.

The Guardian Angel Kids Ezine staff and contributors look forward to your visit. Thank you for your time and interest.

GAP FAMILY BLOG WELCOMES Roey Ebert, AUTHOR and ILLUSTRATOR OF Put it Back, Jack. Congratulations on the release of Put it Back, Jack. Please tell us more about it.

Roey: It is the story of two young brothers who take a walk through the woods. The younger brother, Jack, decides to take something from the woods much to the surprise of his older brother, Max. Both brothers end up falling in love with this creature but know it must return to its family. This book brings together the beauty of nature and family and how they must always stay intact.

What was the inspiration for this book?

Roey: My son, Jack, found a baby deer hidden in our ivy. It was so small he could have put it in his pocket. Instead of that option, I convinced him to let me write a book about it. And, that’s exactly what I did.

What is your favorite moment from the book?

Roey: The moment when big brother Max starts to love the baby deer as much as Jack. It is the moment when they kick the soccer ball in the basement, just as best friends would. He was no longer the big brother but a best friend.

What is your favorite illustration from the book?

Roey: Without a doubt, the picture of Jack kissing the baby deer in the basement. This was the painting that I felt I really had it right. I had Jack the way I like him and the deer the way I wanted him. And you could feel the love between this little boy and this little forest animal, just by the way the deer reached up to kiss Jack.

Is this your first published book?

Roey: I have illustrated before but never authored a book. So this is my first published book that I have written.

What medium did you use for illustrating this book?

Roey: I used acrylic gouache and black ink.

How do you choose?

Roey: It was definitely trial and error. I started with acrylic…my favorite medium and then had a workshop with Lindsay Barrett George who encouraged me to use gouache. I had tried charcoal pencils and watercolor and did not like the outcome. So, I tried gouache and was hooked. I loved the pigment and the control. I also used black ink to outline.

Did you have to do any research to illustrate this book?

Roey: Yes, my son, Duke, gave me pictures of deer and gave me his toy deer to sketch. I also made my children pose in all kinds of positions to get it right. I used old photos of my 15-year-old, from when he was 2 years old, because he had the look I was going for…big head, big belly and lots of mischief.

We’d love to hear more about you.

Roey: I am the mom to 6 kids…15 years to 2 years. I recently started my own company called Roey’s Paintbox Parties, canvas painting parties, out of the belief that you should never waste your talents. This company combines my love of art, teaching and just plain, fun into a business. I am so proud of this first book. Even as an 8th grade teacher, I would incorporate children’s storybooks into my lesson planning. To me, there is nothing like the feeling of being read a good story.

Do you have any book signing events or book tours scheduled for Put it Back, Jack?

Roey: Yes, I did multiple school visits during Catholic Schools’ Week in the Lehigh Valley, PA. I have events planned at a large elementary school in Allentown, PA called St. Thomas More for April and another for St. Theresa’s in Hellertown, PA in April. I plan on visiting local bookstores and other schools in the near future.

How can our readers learn more about you and any upcoming Put it Back, Jack events?

Roey: I have a website http://www.roeyebert.com/ which lists my events.

Thank you for stopping in to share Put it Back, Jack with us. Readers can purchase a copy direct from the GAP’s website. We are proud to add it to the ever-growing line of quality titles from Guardian Angel Publishing.

To find these and other titles by our talented GAP family members, please visit us online at http://guardianangelpublishing.com/.

This is a leap year. Leap years are needed every four years to maintain the alignment between the calendar and the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days to circle one full time around the Sun. By adding a day to every fourth year, we ‘catch up’ with the extra quarter day for each annual revolution.

Julius Cesar introduced the leap day of February 29th into the Julian calendar more than 2000 years ago, but his calculations were off and he had them too frequently. Eventually the seasons weren’t lining up with the calendar. 1500 years later, the Gregorian calendar designated that every year divisible by 4 would be a leap year. Which makes me wonder what date the Romans thought it was when the Gregorian calendar took over.

Turns out, the Julian calendar was off by ten days. The year the Gregorian calendar fixed the mistake, it jumped from October 4th to October 15th. The people worried that it meant their lives would be shorter and there was protesting in the streets. “We want our 10 days back!”

Even with the extra day thrown in, our calendar still doesn’t line up perfectly with the solar year, so it was decided that any year divisible by 100 would not have a leap year, except when divisible by 400. So there was no leap day in 1900, but it was celebrated with the extra calendar date in 2000. Phew! Did you catch all that?

Were you born on a leap day? Congratulations, you are finally another year older this year. Just kidding. Most people born on a leap day celebrate either February 28th or March 1st during non-leap years. Some astrologers believe people born on a leap day have unusual talents and personalities to signify their special status. What is your unusual talent?

Wanting to take advantage of the date’s unusual status, on February 29, 2012, 56 countries will be celebrating Rare Disease Day hoping to draw attention to needed research for ailments with no known cure. Hopefully they don’t have to wait another four years to call attention to worthy research.


Kai Strand writes fiction for middle grade and young adult readers. In particular, she loves fantasy, but in no means is limited to it. Her debut tween novel, The Weaver, is a lyrical tale about persistence, full of storytelling and a dash of magic. Her second middle grade novel, Save the Lemmings! will be published in March, 2012. Visit Kai’s website: http://www.kaistrand.com/, where you can download book club questions, a word search or a companion craft for The Weaver and learn more about her writing.

1888PressRelease

I have always scribbled stories. However, none of them became published until after I became a Teacher’s Aide and discovered the Internet. I began telling classes tales of my Aussie homeland, and their weird and wonderful critters. I had done this with my own kids, so they wouldn’t forget their homeland. A teacher suggested I write them down, as I had a tendency to change the endings, and kids noticed this very fast.

This was when computers were just beginning to be in homes. I nagged until my husband agreed to buy a computer – all 1 ½ gigs of HD! I went online and discovered a really great site for children’s writers. As luck would have it, several talented and generous hearted writers, now well published themselves, took me under their wing. I learned the writing rules. I learned patience. I became determined to become published. I began to value the benefits of rewriting my manuscripts and reading those of others. Oh, my, what pearls I learned from reading my talented critique group’s manuscripts. Yet rewrites and rejections still filled my days for a l-o-n-g time. Then I formed a private online critique group with other like-minded members, and my writing took a turn for the more publishable. YEA.

A friend recommended me to a publisher, and they accepted my first rhyming picture book. Eventually, this became Wild and Wonderful, a 7 book series that offered fun facts about animals from the US and Australia. Each book had a different illustrator from a different state, or part of the world. Finding them was as easy as asking on my writing list if there were any illustrators willing to give their career a boost by illustrating my books. You could never do that today, and expect wonderful illustrations for a cut of the proceeds. This was early days, and these were eBooks.

Kangaroo Clues, the first in the series, was illustrated by an artist in Turkey. He spoke no English and did not own a computer. How was this possible you ask? Again I have to thank the Internet. An online friend, also Turkish, and famous for her own children’s books, suggested I use her illustrator, Mustafa Delioglu. She sent me some of the books he had illustrated for her, and his work was awesome. His other art hung in galleries over Europe. I shouted, YES!

This friend acted as translator for both of us. Talk about a marathon effort for a friend. Fortunately Mustafa lived near her, so she went back-and- forth with my e-mails, and his replies to them, for months. Almost a year went past before the illustrations were completed and the book finally published. I was thrilled with the results. His magical illustrations came together with my rhymes in a delightful marriage of fun reading. It was information kids could enjoy, while learning about Aussie animals.

Instead of large land masses surrounded by oceans, the Internet has given us all a chance to become closer, learn about each other’s customs, and celebrate different people with different talents. I find this particularly true with Manuscript Critiquing. Clients come to me from all over the globe. We chat, I help them write tight and terrific books, and we share details of our lives and our countries.

One lady from Latvia e-mailed me every day about her life, her writing, and her country. I replied in like fashion – the difference from my end being, that I corrected her English in MY replies to her. At the end of a year her English had improved out of sight, and I had a firm friend from a part of the world I had never thought about before I became a fan of the Internet.

The Internet is the future: brimming with opportunities for improved lifestyles, good works and aiding others. Stopping those who scheme to use it for vice and other dangerous endeavors must be our current priority.

Margot Finke is an author of 11 children’s books. Originally from Down-under, she now lives in Oregon with her husband, and close to their three grown kids and grandkids. Margot also runs a Manuscript Critique Service, where tight and terrific writing is the name of the game. Her website offers many pages of help for beginning writers, plus links to her books, video readings, reviews, and where to purchase.

Website: http://www.margotfinke.com/  
Hook Kids on Reading: http://hookkidsonreading.blogspot.com/  
Margot’s Magic Carpet: http://perfectmagiccarpet.blogspot.com/  

Would you like to win a copy of the book, Poodle and Doodle? Of course! If you click this link, you'll find out how to enter!

http://mymcbooks.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/book-reviewgiveaway-poodle-doodle-ends-feb-11th/#comments

Shellie wonders what it would be like to be a different animal. After all, some can fly, leap, hop, flutter, and so many other things. Her big brother explains to look inside yourself and like what you see to find true happiness.


A young boy, Frank, moves to the Moon. He realizes that things he took for granted on earth are now much more difficult to overcome. Learn how he adapts to his new environment and share in his new life lessons on the Moon.



Rooty Rooster ignores a new chick because he finds him both scary and disgusting. The new chick, a baby vulture, struggles to win Rooty’s heart. And when he does, Rooty invites him to join him in a crowing session on top of the barn roof.