Lady Flatterley
by Linda Wagner and Illustrated by Pearl L. Ollie is perhaps one of the most uniquely written and illustrated works for children I have had the pleasure of reading in some time now. The author has been able to work in several nice little life lessons, using verse form, which is not only reassuring in a sweet mellow way, but quite informative and will be a delight to any child. It allows the adult to introduce all sorts of discussion, something I always look for in a child’s book.Lady Flatterley, our heroine, enters the story as a fuzzy caterpillar hiding among the leaves in a tall oak tree. She is fearful of the wind and obviously of the busy life that is going on around her. She wants to see things, to experience life, but to be frank, she is fearful. The author then takes us on the journey that transforms this caterpillar, thorough the process of preparing her cocoon and eventually, after a long cold winter, transforming in to a free and beautiful butterfly. She receives help, advice and information from helpful creatures around her during her metamorphosis from childhood to an adult.
What wonderful messages there are in this little work for all children! First they are taught that fear of the unknown is really wasted fear, that nature or God has a plan for all of us, and if we trust and let life develop naturally; then we will be much better off for it. The child is taught that change is a natural process, one that all living things go through and that it is a normal life process and one that should be looked forward to. Ms. Wagner has done a very nice job of documenting and teaching the life cycle of a butterfly, so we have a nice little biology lesson thrown in for good measure. The child is also taught, in a rather round about way, that there are really no free lunches, and that good things must be worked for; that we must participate in our own maturation process for it to work.
Now some of these lessons will need to be pointed out to the child by the adult reading the book, which when you think about it, is the job and responsibility of the adult anyway. This is a good thing.
The art work in this book is something to behold. Each page is covered with vivid and contrasting colors which blend perfectly and go precisely with the text. A technique which I have seen before has been used here where the back ground has been accomplished via digital photography and imagery by Jerry Hanzi. The artist, Pearl L. Olive, has superimposed her work over this and blended it perfectly. While familiar with this technique, I must say that it has been used here more effectively than in most works I have reviewed.
All in all, the writing here is great, the illustrations go beyond impressive, and the overall message of the story is invaluable. This is a great read-a-long book, or one for just the child to ponder on his or her own. I do highly recommend this one! Let us hope we hear more from this author!
Considerations :::
We could not find a Reading Level for this book, so the best assumption would be that you will need to read this to your children.
2 comments :
Thank you Don for your kind words that you expressed in your review of my first book. I know how excited I was when I had my first born child, and this was now my first born book.
True, I wasn't able to get it into a hard cover and there was a misprint on the age category, but it was a child's book that was written from my heart.
I wanted to simply portray my creationist and Christian viewpoint. I know that today, creation vs. evolution and God can become very controversial in written word. Because I am a believer in God and the wonders of His creation, I knew that I had only expressed what a Christian would believe. I have had to learn that as an author writing on Christian beliefs; one has to grow thick skin. Not everyone is going to share your viewpoint. Just reading over some of my reviews, some have left no doubt in my mind where they stand on Christianity. That is all right by me. This is why we live in a free world and have the freedom of speech. Not all my reviews were able to get on Amazon.com.
Before writing my stories, I went through the library and bookstores to see what was available in children’s books and believe me there was not a short in the supply. When I asked to be shown where the Christian books were, the clerk took me to a small area that had two shelves of Christian Children’s Books. So I thought I would test the waters with only one book before I tried publishing the rest.
I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be a best seller. There is no magic or an exciting novel in any of my stories. Most all of my stories are fictional but neatly wrapped in a Christian theme. Each story has a moral behind it that would help the child to develop a good character and an appreciation for the difference between right and wrong. For those who do value what their children read and believe, I was hoping that my writings would be of quality and of interest that any child could understand and find it enjoyable.
My illustrator, Pearl and my layout design artist that created the backdrops, Jerry, including me are Christians. We all worked so well together and had such fun doing this book.
Thanks to people like you, especially yours being one of the first reviews that came out, really warmed and touched our hearts in a special way. Thank you for understanding, believing in and recognizing what we were trying to give to the impressionable mind of a child.
This is my web site: www.lindawagnerbooks.com
Linda: We are always absolutely delighted when an author visits our site! We are particularly delight that it is you, as your work, Lady Flatterly, is actually quite exceptional. I think the background you have added with this comment makes the work even more special. This is a very special book; quite unique in many ways, and for a first book (even for an author with many books under her belt), it is quite amazing. the loving message I brings is wonderful for children and certainly will give adults food for thought. Pam and I certainly hope there will be many books to follow from you. We will do everything we can to get the word out about this one as people not having access to it are missing a fine read for their children! Again, thank you so much for dropping by and making comments. Feel free to make a habit of it!
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