Book review: Being Frank – by Donna W. Earnhardt

Book: Being Frank

Author: Donna W. Earnhardt

Illustrator: Andrea Castellani

Genre: picture book, for ages 5 – 7

Publisher: Flashlight Press

Date: September 26, 2012

Price: $16.95

My rating: a “must have” beautifully illustrated storybook with a moral presented in an entertaining way

I met the author, Donna Earnhardt, online in a writers chatroom maybe three years ago when she was still hoping to write the children’s book that would be accepted by a publisher. Well, it has happened! Being Frank is her first picture book to be placed into the hands of eager children, and it is a beautiful one.

The story begins with these words: Frank was always frank. “Honesty is the best policy,” he said.

While that motto is a very good one, it got Frank into big trouble. Although he knew how to be honest, he didn’t know anything about tact. Eventually, everyone was upset with him, he was being ignored by his friends, and he didn’t understand what to do about it. Enter … his grandfather. Yay! for grandparents! 😉 What he learned from his grandfather Ernest changed how Frank handled his honesty so that he could still be honest but without hurting people’s feelings.

Although Being Frank is a story with a moral, it does not come across in a preachy teachy way that could put children off. It is entertaining and funny while getting the point across.

Donna has everything in this book that should appeal to a child. Words used are fun and a little challenging, there are amusing situations, she uses great names that describe the characters – another example being Mr. Wiggins, the school principal who wears a toupée – and she has brought out true feelings expressed by her characters. It is believable and entertaining for children (and grown-ups, too.)

A fabulous picture book story falls short when there are not great illustrations to back it up. Well, there is nothing amiss in this book! The characters in Donna Earnhardt’s Being Frank are brought to life through the bright and colourful illustrations of Andrea Castellani. (His name is pronounced An-dray-a.) When my grandson and I read this book together he was busily taking it all in, there is so much to see and enjoy that goes with the words.

Being Frank by Donna Earnhardt is a wonderful book to add to your bookshelf.

You can find Being Frank listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Please come back on Thursday, March 14, for my interview with author Donna Earnhardt. There is a picture book to win! 🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Remembering Dr. Seuss

A year ago on this date I wrote a post in honour of Dr. Seuss‘ birthday. If he were still with us today he would be 104. Because I am trying to take care of some other things this week, I am going to simply give you the link to my 2012 post. I hope you will go here and read it again, or for the first time.

I miss reading Dr. Seuss‘ fabulous books to my little girls … who are all grown up now. I suppose I could dig out a few of his books and read them to the dog. If he gets up and leaves the room I’ll know I’ve lost my touch and need more practice in reading aloud again. 😉

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Thanks for being a rebel and breaking new ground.

Perhaps we should encourage ourselves by remembering Dr. Seuss as one who didn’t give up his dream. No one can live it or do it for us, so, to quote Dr. Seuss: “You are you and that is true, there’s no one in the world who’s you-er than you.”

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Where did my get-up-and-go go?

Ever have ‘one of those days’? I’m having one right now. In fact, I’ve been having one for more days than I care to admit.

You know the saying, “my get-up-and-go got up and went.” Yep! That’s what has happened to me.

So many things I want to do, things I have to do, but I’m lacking the drive to do them. *sigh* I keep saying I must be tired. Well, that’s true, I am tired, but it seems to be more than that. Perhaps a temporary change of scenery/location is needed as I just don’t seem to have the motivation to get my act in gear.

Noticeably, I didn’t post a thing here all last week. That’s not good. I have some wonderful books lined up to review here but I can’t seem to think my way through it – but I will, really! I also have books stacked up to read, some of those to review, but I’m plugging away at War and Peace. Sometimes my reading is just for me, which is necessary, and I am enjoying W & P; it’s just taking me forever because I interject other books along the way.

Of course, there is life and all that entails. A sweet acquaintance/friend passed away the morning of February 15, and after hearing about her I learned that my uncle passed during the night of February 14. Both were expected, but not quite that soon.

Have you suffered with the flu this season, or the cold virus thing that is pulling people down? I am trying to avoid it, but I think that may be a lost cause. Two of Dad’s caregivers have been sick, so I am here longer this time until they recover past the contagious stage. I am expecting to go home tomorrow. It’s a little difficult to avoid my beloved at home, though, who is also recovering from it. Astragalus, an herbal remedy which helps to improve immune function, could be my happy thought. 😉

We were hit with a blizzard last night and this morning. That mixed things up a bit. The power went off at 4:00 this morning at home – not here at Dad’s – so I’m glad I wasn’t there for that this time. My husband didn’t even try to get to work – roads were treacherous with wind, snow, ice – but instead he took care of things at home during the power outage.

I already asked if you have had the flu this season, and now I have a couple more questions for you:

What do you do when your ‘get-up-and-go’ got up and went?
Do you enjoy winter storms? how do you cope with them? and power outages?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

At what speed do you read?

As you know, I love to read. I love to immerse myself in a book and not come out until absolutely necessary. That word ‘necessary’ covers more ground now, but on those days I can claim some time for myself just to read – and read only – it is delicious time well spent.

How fast do you read? Do you know? Does it even matter? My reading time varies, but once I’m into the story I cover a lot of ground in a fair amount of time.

Last year I came across the neatest thing! Perhaps you have seen this yourself. It’s a test to find out how fast you read at your normal speed. I tried it then, but I don’t remember my results. I tried it again this morning. Now, I’m not a speed reader by any stretch of the imagination; I tend to savour each word and scene as I go along which doesn’t even put me into college student reading speed. But, at my pace I apparently would be able to read War and Peace in twenty-six hours and ten minutes. That’s not bad considering the size of that book, and I’ve been nibbling away at it for months to now be a little over half way through it. (As an aside, I am enjoying War and Peace – it’s just that I don’t have a lot of time to spend on reading only, and without interruption, or reading only that one novel, or I’d be further along – and likely finished it.) The test also told me I can read two books on my Kindle before recharging, assuming an average book has 136,604 words.

I thought you might be interested in trying it for yourself. Just click on this link and have fun with it: INTERACTIVE READING SPEED TEST

You may find that if you do the test again you will be given an excerpt from a different novel to read and probably come up with different results.

Do you know how fast you read? Try the test and let me know how it compares with what you thought.

Watch for an exciting, special feature and page to help writers — soon to be incorporated into my blog!

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Surprise winners of Without a Hitch by Andrew Price!

If you have been waiting to know who won a copy of:

then this is the post to satisfy that curiosity. I’m pleased to inform you that EVERYONE who left a comment won a copy, thanks to the generosity of the author, Andrew Price.

Congratulations to: Erik (who won it for his mom), Sharon, Faith, and Sheila. Andrew said your books will be in the mail soon.

Comments from our winners:

Erik: That is very nice that Mr. Price made us all winners.

Sharon: well, yea!! THANKS!!

Faith: WAY COOL!!! A big thanks to Andrew Price.
Sheila: My thanks to you and the very generous Mr. Price! I’m looking forward to reading this book!

Thank you for entering the draw, this is always fun for me. You never know what fun surprise might happen when you take a chance. 🙂

Thank you, Andrew, and we wish you much future success. I, for one, am looking forward to reading more of your books.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Help! What’s your favourite e-reader?

I LOVE BOOKS!

Big books, little books, thick books, thin books, old books, new books —

historical fiction, picture books, YA, mystery, fantasy, classics, and the list goes on. But now I have a problem!

I said I’d never do it; I thought I never would.

I said I’d read just “real” books; I really thought I could.

But some books don’t have paper, they’re only on a screen.

I’m nearly done resisting; I think I’m “going green!”

I have a pc kindle but it’s stuck here on my desk.

So now I have to ask you, what reader is the best?

Please forgive my falling out of rhyme there, but I really do want – and need – your opinion on this. As I said above, I have a pc Kindle with several books loaded onto it. The problem is that when I want to read one of those books and not have to be sitting in front of my computer to do it – right now I can’t. I need some help from you.

I’ve been told that having an e-reader (electronic book) is very convenient because it’s easy to carry and many books can be loaded onto it. (I’m not sure I know how that works, but I’m interested in learning.)

I know I’m often slow with technology, but in this case – I love real books, I love the old ways that work well, and I usually see no reason to mess with a good thing. You know the grammatically poor saying, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” I just found out that e-books have been around for almost a decade … or am I behind in that too? Is it longer? *blush*

What reasons do you have for using an e-reader? Do you prefer an e-reader to a “real” book?

And my main question: I’ve heard about the Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony reader, IPad, and some others. Which e-reader do you recommend and why?

I’m grateful for your help to get me a little more up-to-date. 🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂