knowonder, the literacy magazine

Scheherazade has nothing on knowonder! magazine. You can entertain your children every night with a new story from this magazine that contains 30 new stories each month.

About knowonder!

Knowonder is a leading publisher of engaging, daily content that drives literacy, the most important factor in a child’s success.

Ultimately, knowonder’s mission is to eradicate illiteracy and improve education success through content that is affordable, accessible, and effective.

Learn more at

www.knowonder.com

 

 

 

 

 

Preface: from the featured Author, Holly Stacey

People always ask me how I come up with my stories. The problem has never been what to write next, but which one to write next. With a background in archaeology (digging up ancient stuff is great inspiration) and museums (galleries filled with items; each one a wealth of tales), it’s not difficult to find inspiration. Okay, okay, and BOOKS. Lots and lots of books. It’s what got me interested in history and folklore, dragons, adventure, travel…

Books from my childhood mostly came from the library; a small, ramshackle place called Ruth Bach Library. It was located (kid you not) in a park. Getting there meant walking a bit past a grove of trees, over a bridge, a small field (well, baseball field), up a path and then into those glistening glass doors to where a whole world of adventure awaited. Small booklets, heavy tomes, cooking books, cuddly toy books, archaeology books (my personal favourite), fairytales…

So if, like me, you long for adventure, just sit back, relax, grab your favourite cuddly toy and a warm cocoa. Then pick up your latest knowonder! anthology and step into a portal of magical fun.

xx

Holly Stacey // Staff Writer

knowonder! publishing

www.knowonder.com

Here is a thumbnail sketch of each of the 30 stories in Volume 3:

p. 6. Nerissa’s Celebration, by Holly Stacey (featured author).

Mermaid Nerissa wants pearls for a new gown to wear to the festival. But in her impatience, she encounters an adventure. She rescues the oysters from bad men and the Red Tide. And though the oysters give her their pearls, she finds that it is better to have friends than a new dress.

p. 13. Just Plain Sarah Jane, by Nancy Julien Kopp.

Sarah Jane saves to buy a pretty dish for Ma. But a boy gets it and gives it to Annabelle, who doesn’t really appreciate it. Sarah Jane may be plain, but she plainly deserves the dish. Do you think she gets it?

p. 22. I Want My Own Monster, By Susan Sundwall.

Teena makes a list of qualifications and gets her own monster, Trevor.

p.27. To Be or No To Be a Princess, by Kathy Stattem Rygg.

Jetta Rose is a different princess every day: Like Cinderella she walks with one shoe; like Rapunzel she wears a yellow hair ribbon for hair; like Sleeping Beauty she sleeps all day. But if she were really a princess what are her specialties? Twirling, gliding, bowing.

p. 32. Kabungo and the Pumpkin, Part One, by Rolli.

Quote: “ I actually hadn’t seen too much of Kabungo since she’d fallen in love with Bun, her new kitten. … I’ve noticed that when people are in love they act like they’re in a snow globe. You can shake it as hard as you want and they just go on floating and smiling. Well, it’s the same with cavegirls and kittens….”  Beverly and friend, cave girl Kabungo, go to Miss VeDore’s for pumpkins; both Miss VeDore and Kabungo disappear, so Beverly goes into the house, nervous … to be continued.

p. 39. Dance Walking, by Kevin J. Doyle.

Ella finds she can do something new because her friend Marley stands by her.

p. 46. Roly-Poly Fat Cat, by Rolli.

This Very Funny take on the Gingerbread Boy story is hilarious.

p. 51. Ellie the Zoo, by Tracy Helixon.

Ellie pretends to be different animals, but her brother doesn’t want to play along. Will honey with biscuits lure him into becoming a bear?

p. 55. Bot-in-a-box, by David Welsh.

Alva throws away the directions for Box-E, so what kind of robot will emerge from his impromptu workings?

p. 63. Blackbird and Owl, by Tracey Glasspool.

This is a sweet soft story. Two opposites become friends and find a way to be together.

p. 67. Princess Piggy, by Holly Stacey.

A spoiled princess gets taught a lesson by her fairy godmother. A MOST unexpected ending. Beautifully written.

p. 72. Zora Zooms from Planet Zot, by Teresa DiNicola.

In her anger (that Mumby spends so much time with baby Nog), Zora flies away in her mini-rocket pod, but returns home to Mumby’s loving arms.

p. 75. The Small World, by Rolli.

Life is tough in the Tall World. But the secret is that there’s a Small World, too. And it’s even better.

p. 77. The Boy With the Lead Boots, by David Turnbull.

Finally Mike lets his new friends Marco, Kaz, and Emma, join in the fun of the secret of his lead boots.

p. 86. Mirinda’s Gift, by Holly Stacey.

With only three shells in her mer-purse, Princess Merinda, a mermaid, has to get a job to make her father a new robe.

p. 92. Where are the Ducklings? By Adelaide B. Shaw.

Eleven baby ducklings fall into the story drain. How will frantic Molly Duck get her babies back?

p. 96. A Damselfly in Distress, by Erin Fanning.

(Pretend )Knight Ian rescues a damselfly that got sloshed by water churned by his kayak.

p. 100. The First Snowflake, by Elliot Anderson.

Buford Bear is the slowest animal in the forest. Does he have a chance to catch the first snowflake with so many fast friends competing in the annual contest?

p. 109. A Puzzling Surprise, by Kathy Stattem Rygg.

When Lucy and Alex put their giant floor puzzle together,  Pirate Captain Buzzard, and his parrot, Pickles, step out of it.

p. 114. Martian Cookies, by Tina Holt.

Schoolgirl, Maddie, goes to her sitter’s house after school because her mother has a new job. The day goes nicely for her when she pretends Miss Becky is a Martian and serves her Martian cookies.

p. 118. Dr. Franklin’s Staticy Cat, by Rolli.

Here is a fanciful way of telling how Dr. Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. And all because he needed to cure his cat from being staticy.

p. 126. A Dark and Stormy Night, by Christine Collier.

Calla visits her grandmother, and on a dark and stormy night, she solves an old mystery and makes her grandmother very happy.

p. 131. Robert’s Shirt is Gone, by Laurel T. Sheridan.

It’s hard for Robert to admit that his favorite green t-shirt—the one he wears all day, to eat in, to play in, to sleep in—has stretched WAAAY to big.

p. 134. Beware of the Dragon! by Teresa DiNicola.

A LITTLE lizard causes a BIG commotion, but friendships are made in the end.

p. 137. Polly Porcupine’s Prickly Problem, by Max Elliot Anderson.

Polly wants to eat clover, climb trees, and shoot quills like the “other” porcupines. But she eats bugs, cannot climb and her quills are stuck tight. But wait … she’s a —–!

p. 144. Kabungo & the Pumpkin, Part Two, by Rolli.

Remember, we left Beverly as she was just entering Miss VeDore’s house. Once inside, she finds Kabungo having tea with Miss VeDore. After tea, Beverly and Kabungo take their pumpkins home (well, Kabungo’s goes to her cave).

p. 152. Harry, A Prince of a Dog, by Suzanne Purvis.

If one kiss can break one spell what can two kisses do? Read this highly original and heartwarming story to find out.

p. 161. Ellie’s Art Rocks! by Kai Strand.

Check this story out for a fun craft for your kids.

Don’t have enough money to buy a pass to the pool? Ellie paints rocks to sell to earn the money and has fun doing it. Ellie’s art, rocks.

p. 166. Sapphire and Weld, by Holly Stacey.

Another of Holly’s enchanting and enchanted mermaid stories. The good girl is rewarded with pearls and the selfish girl punished by having a frog attached to her head.

p. 174. The Grasshoppers Who Learned to Sings, by Lisa Barrass.

Lots of adventure when Cup Cake Sally sprinkles fairy dust on Polly, Lucas, and Ella when they visit Tickle Belly Alley Cottage.

*********************************************************************

What is a Read-Aloud story?

knowonder! stories are Read-Aloud stories.

In fact, the whole knowonder! Literacy Program is built up around this core difference.

Read-aloud stories and picture books are very different from each other. Both are needed, but they provide very different benefits. Picture books are a wonderful literacy tool, but consider for a moment how reading stories out loud to your children from a young age can provide these key benefits:

Key Benefits

Consider these key benefits of read-aloud stories:

- Listening skills are built

- Concentration improves as children learn to sit still and focus

- Comprehension and understanding of events (cause and effect relationships) is

enhanced

- Imagination is actively exercised as children imagine the scenes, characters and

worlds the words create

- Vocabulary is increased as children discover new words

- A child’s ability to guess meanings of new words grows

- Children become more confident because they know they are cared for and loved

and because they can express their thoughts and needs

- Children are better-enabled to make friends and good relationships because their

communication skills are increased

- Learning in all subjects becomes much easier because the brain is literally being

wired to learn and take in new information

- Family bonds are strengthened and reinforced, creating an atmosphere of love, trust

and communication in the home which will last a lifetime

While it can be said that many of these benefits come from picture books, most of them are developed much better, faster, and deeper with read-aloud stories. When you consider the sum-total of all these benefits, it’s easy to see why reading to your child every day from birth is the single-most important thing a parent can do to ensure a child’s success in life, socially, mentally and financially.

to learn more, visit:  http://www.knowonder.com

Dr. Ronald Dearinger, Doctor of Business Administration

On Wednesday, I flew with my daughter, Jenny, and her husband, Ron, to Phoenix, Arizona, where Ron was to be awarded his Doctorate of Business Administration. We picked up the rental car at Avis and drove to the Sheraton Hotel. What a fabulous penthouse suite! We knew it would be a great place for the celebration party; it was very roomy and had a large patio as well. They took me to Mike and Alva’s (Ron’s sister and her husband), where I was to stay.

On Thursday, the five of us drove to Sedona and had lunch. The scenery through that countryside is awesome. We saw some beautiful geologic formations. Sedona, which had expanded since Jenny and Ron were last there five years ago, is built on a southwestern adobe style architectural plan, and it’s very artsy. The statue of the dancing couple, dressed in 19^th century costume, life-size bronze and rotating on a wagon wheel, is on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. For dinner that night we ate sandwiches at home.

Friday was Veterans Day, and it fell on 11-11-11.  Alva wanted to stay home and make Friendship Bread. So Jenny and I went to Tempe. She knew of a street at the Arizona State campus that has lots of restaurants. We chose the Irish pub; we ate shepherd’s pie and bread pudding with Irish whiskey. Then we drove a long way back to the center of Phoenix to the Phoenix Art Museum. We were fortunate enough to be there for a Veteran’s Day Celebration that took place in a small auditorium. First there was a Flag Ceremony, the Honor Guard being veterans. Several veterans in the audience were introduced. There was one man who had been in WW II, a few from Korea and Vietnam, and several from Afghanistan. A docent, who has been with the museum for about 30 years, gave an inspiring presentation of art using slides projected onto a large screen. Her focus was on the Hudson River School, showing the natural treasures of America. Afterward, we joined everyone on the courtyard lawn for refreshments. I met the World War II Veteran. Later in the day, Jenny and I helped Alva arrange the food platters for the next day. Then we went to the hotel to decorate. Jenny, Alva, and I (well, not me, so much) strung crepe paper streamers across the drapery of the windows and arranged the table decorations. Ron and Mike blew up balloons and attached bunches of them to the crepe paper streamers.

Saturday was Ron’s big day. He and Jenny went early to the University of Phoenix’s stadium, which is four times larger than the University of Florida’s O’Connell Center. Alva, Mike, and I joined Jenny in the seats. She chose to be on the front row, and we had a good view of Ron when he came in. The procession was led by a group of bag-pipers and drummers. Jessie, Mike and Alva’s daughter, and her daughter, Kayla, also came to see Ron graduate. The graduates and the speakers were shown on two large video screens. Ron was interviewed, along with lots of others, and Jenny got to see that, but we didn’t arrive until later. But we got to see him file in with the other Doctoral Candidates wearing his impressive robe and red hat. The video gave a really up-close view of each graduate and displayed the name. Our guy: Dr. Ronald Dearinger.

 After the ceremony, we went to the Sheraton Hotel for the party. Jenny displayed Ron’s Disertation and his Diploma (which had been sent to him in August).  A large chocolate, chocolate, chocolate cake served as a tempting centerpiece.  In addition to the seven of us, there were other guests. Ron’s nephew, Willie, and his girlfriend, came from about 30 miles away. And Ron was especially pleased that the wife of the principal of his high school, Alice (88 years young), and her two daughters, Bev and Jean, came. Jean and Alva were good friends during their high school days, and they still get together from time to time. There was lots of reminiscing going on. Jenny showed the rotating 150 pictures of Ron and his friends and family on her lap top computer and she also took lots of pictures of everybody. I enjoyed talking to Alice. Jenny told her that I am a writer and she told us that her cousin is Dav Pilkey who wrote the Captain Underpants books. I said I would have to tell my grandsons about that. Jessie’s daughter, Kayla, is an adorable 4-year old. Jenny gave her a toy and I gave her a book; she was very interested in her gifts and enjoyed playing with them. I sat with her and we lifted the flaps on the book, and I was surprised that she knew so many words; she’s very smart and was well-behaved throughout the long day. We also played toss-the-balloons, the way I had played with my grandsons years ago. Ron was looking forward to a good prime rib, so we all joined up again at a nice restaurant. I enjoyed getting better acquainted with Bev. She had been a neo-natal Nurse Practitioner, but is now retired to ranch work. It was altogether a very satisfying day. We are all so proud of the hard work that Ron put in to achieve his Doctorate.

Jenny will be putting pictures of the event on Facebook.

Then after we came back home, the following Sunday, Jenny threw another party for Ron at the clubhouse at Uptown Village. This was a great opportunity for Ron’s local family, friends, and colleagues to express their pride and congratulations.

Jenny had a special surprise for Ron. She used copies of his Dissertation to make pinwheels which she stuck into pencils and displayed in terra cotta pots. These were the centerpieces for the scattered tables. I helped her make the pinwheels. It was my suggestion to use gold doilies under the pots. She also used pages from the Dissertation–copies, that is–to create a banner that read CONGRATULATIONS.  She displayed the Diploma and Dissertation–which has a humongous title–at the front of the room, along with Ron’s doctoral gown, hood, and red hat. The room looked very festive with the decorations and food.

When Ron came in, he said something like, Should we follow the old tradition and burn the Dissertation. I said we did something better than that. He like the things Jenny had done with the pages.

She also put the automatic picture album on a table and it ran all day. This time there were pictures of the graduation in Phoenix.

It was fun to stretch the celebrations out for a couple of weeks.

 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my blog. Stories a la Mode is one year old today. It is also my birthday.

So far, it’s been great. John took me and  Jenny to lunch at Appleby’s. The waiters sang a birthday song to me and gave me a delicious brownie with vanilla ice cream, which I shared with my kids.

When I got home Steven called to ask me out for ice cream. He and his girl friend, Nikki, and  Andrew want to take me to TCBY for a treat. I’m looking forward to that.

The whole family will celebrate in July when Jessica comes in From Seattle.

Lunching Together

Today my son invited my daughter to lunch. It’s a ritual that’s been going on for several years. It’s one of John’s ways of showing Jenny his gratitude for the gift of her bone marrow when he was in the hospital with leukemia. That was nineteen years ago. Every day, we are all grateful for her love and generosity.

Family News

I want to share the good news about the newest member of the family. Dominic Daniels is a beautiful little boy. He is the son of Chrissy and Jason Daniels. He was born on February 16, weighing in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces. His dad is a U. S. Marine and his mother is my son-in-law, Ron Dearinger’s younger daughter. He has been visited by Jenny and Ron, Lindsey and Michael, and his grandmother, Laura. I hope to get to see him before too long.

And I also want to tell you that Jessica will be doing her Archival/Records Management internship at the University of Washington in Seattle from March through June. Then she will return to Western Washington in Bellingham to finish her Master’s Degree.

Aunt Sue and the Autumn Leaves

Aunt Sue had a green thumb. Her home sat on a hill surrounded by distant Blue Ridge Mountains, an inspiring sight. However, up close, Aunt Sue tended to trees and flowers and vegetables with the same loving care she tended her family. Her home-canned green beans were out of this world and rivaled those of Aunt Mot, but that’s a story for another day.

Near the end of Aunt Sue’s life, she was diagnosed with cancer. She strove to hide her pain with a cheerfulness that bordered on denial. She still invited folks over and sat them down to a table laden with mouth-watering corn bread and butter, fried or baked chicken, stuffing flavored with the sage that grew outside her kitchen door (when I was a little girl, I was her stuffing tester), an array of vegetables, cooked and cru ˊde ˊta, and some wonderful dessert. She always kept friendship bread starter, and that was one of her tastiest offerings.

Once when I visited her with my daughter, Jenny, who is not much younger than Aunt Sue’s daughter, Vanessa, the autumn weather was pleasant enough for us to sit out on the front porch. As we talked, the wind got a little blustery and yellow, brown, and red leaves started falling from the trees at the edge of the lawn.

Among the old superstitions that we mountain folk grew up hearing is the one that states: “If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.” It might have been Aunt Sue who reminded us of that saying.

It was worth a try. Was each of us secretly hoping there was enough good luck in an autumn leaf to dispel cancer? Jenny and Vanessa led the way as we all clambered down the steps and started trying to catch a falling leaf.

What fun that was! We must have looked like a bunch of kindergarteners, the way we squealed with our arms out-stretched and our faces up-lifted. . . . You’d be surprised how hard it is to catch a falling leaf in the wind.

I can’t remember if any of us caught cold that winter.

I do remember the joy Aunt Sue felt in life and the way she spread that joy to others with her good food and warm hospitality.

Dolphins

My cyber friend, Lynda Burch, wrote an excited letter about seeing dolphins on the beach while vacationing. She had become attached to dolphins during last year’s vacation. In fact, she says her attachment goes back to childhood. This time, she was concerned that because of the oil balls, she might not see any dolphins this year. By the sound of it, she is on a Gulf of Mexico beach. If so, then I understand her feelings.

Lynda is the hard-working publisher of Guardian Angel Publishing. The manuscript I submitted to her, FANTASTIC FLIGHT, takes place on a Gulf of Mexico beach, Pensacola Beach, where my husband and I lived and entertained our grandchildren.

In my story, dolphins are seen frolicking in the surf. The permanent smile on the face of dolphins makes it easy for people to empathize with them. Stories of people being rescued by dolphins makes us feel as if they are our friends. And the opportunity to swim with them is thrilling.

The cleanup of their home waters is still going on. We must take pains to see that such devastation does not happen again. A world without dolphins would be a less beautiful world.

I stayed up to see the full moon eclipse

This is the my firist Teen Word Factory blog, which I posted shortly after midnight today. Then I watched the beginning of the eclipse.

In the dead of winter, it appears that darkness is devouring the world. People need a little cheering up, and with our ubiquitous sense of hope, the ancients devised a way to cheer themselves up. That way was to light a fire in the darkness. And not just the ancients—still today, we celebrate light and allow our optimism to shine through.

We call the shortest day of the year, when there is more darkness than light, winter solstice; “sol” is a word coming from the Latin, meaning sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are celebrating winter solstice today. Our friends down under will not experience their winter solstice until June 21. Right now, they are sweating out their summer solstice!

Many books have used the winter solstice to portray the darkness of the atmosphere or the darkness of the human heart.

Simon Holt’s The Devouring begins on solstice eve. Holt’s teen book has been compared to the horrors of R. L. Stine or Steven King. If that’s your bag, this is your book.

Winter Girls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of the well-known Speak, describes the darkness into which the human spirit can fall by following two anorexic girls through their obsession. Emotional and/or psychological problems can plunge a person into a frozen frame of mind and devour the light-heartedness of life.

In Terry Pratchett’s Wintersmith, the world of the wee blue Feegles is held in the icy grip of winter until the Wintersmith forgoes his infatuation with the Big Wee Hag, Tiffany Aching. Only in Tiffany’s freedom can Spring ever come. This is the third book in the Tiffany Aching series.

For a complete overview of the winter solstice, anyone—not just kids–could go to Didi Lemay’s picture book, A Winter Solstice Celebration. Or if you prefer an adult book on the subject, Dorothy Morrison’s Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth is complete with history, traditions, decorations, recipes, crafts, and more.

The Scandinavian custom of celebrating Yule has spread to many other countries. Yule is another way of saying, “This is the shortest day of the year, so ‘Hurry, Spring!’ We want more light.” People make their own light by bringing a large log into the house and burning it in the fireplace.

Light festivals date back thousands of years; even ancient Egyptians had a celebration to welcome the return of the sun. Other people put lights on trees or candelabra, or carry candles while they sing festive songs to their neighbors.

As an added attraction this year, the total lunar eclipse is visible in North America for the first time since 1638. It begins at 1:32 AM (Eastern time) on the longest night of the year (December 21) and will last 72 minutes.

We shiver in the cold and darkness of winter, yet there is always that sense of hope shining through. We consider the whole of the day of December 21 to be the winter solstice, but in fact the solstice lasts only an instant. It’s that tip of the fulcrum when fall is over and winter begins. The day after winter solstice an upswing starts; the nights get shorter, we see the sun shine longer each day. It will be a few months yet before the weather gets warm, but it’s comforting to know the sun has not been devoured.

December issue, Guardian Angel Kids: It’s Not Just for Kids

Here is an announcement from Donna McDine, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian Angel Kids Ezine:

The blustery days of winter have arrived and what better way to spend a cold afternoon than taking your young muse on an interactive adventure at the Guardian Angel Kids Ezine
http://www.guardian-angel-kids.com http://www.guardian-angel-kids.com.

Be prepared to spend memorable time as you both explore the monthly features:

A Blessed Bethlehem Birth Flip Book by Walter Lee McElligott

Follow A Star – a Rooter and Snuffle Story by Shari Lyle-Soffe (read aloud by Donna Shepherd)

Children poems, stories, and articles:

“Blanket of Snow” written by Alice Knisley Matthias, takes you on snow filled vision.

“Twas the Night before Christmas, Down on the Farm” written by Ann Ingalls and illustrated by Kim Sponaugle immerses you in the wonders of Christmas on a farm.

“All by Myself” written and illustrated by Samantha Bell brings you on an adventure of one young girl’s determination.

“Nothing Was Stirring” written by Marion Tickner and illustrated by Jack Foster is a laugh out loud mousy adventure.

“Treasures, Treats, and Traditions” by Lisa Hart brings to life the wonders of this magical time of year with a bonus Pinwheel Candy craft.

“Names for Nick” by Carol Douglas, the origins of good old Saint Nick.

Tune your child into the wonders of prediction through Dorit Sasson’s parent and teacher article “Teaching Prediction in Picture Books and Non-Fiction Text,” and by doing so will make their reading adventure that much more enjoyable.

Stop by for a gander and enjoy your time together, for the adventurous world of reading is at your fingertips.

Thank you for your time and interest.

***********

Start a New Tradition

Saturday, December 4, is a good day to start a new family tradition. A fellow GAP author, Nancy Stewart, announced on her blog the First Annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. This is a wonderful opportunity for you Grandmas and Grandpas to share a worthwhile experience with your Grandchildren. And just In Time for Christmas, too. For parents, also. If you miss this one, go next Saturday instead and put it on your new calendar for next year.