Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

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Author Feature: Marjorie Everson

One summer day, I went in to Lucky Days, a small town annual celebration held in Luck, WI.  There right on the sidewalk of Main Street, I saw Marjorie Everson and her daughter Susan, who were sitting at a table they’d set up to display the book that Marjorie wrote, called “Carl.”  I bought one of her books,  and went home to our little lake cabin outside of Luck and sat down and read it.  I love to read  children books by other authors to see how they tell their stories and to enjoy the illustrations.  
 

Marjorie Everson

Marjorie, who was born in northwestern Wisconsin, in 1929, and raised at her farm home, did a very good job of telling the true story about what she did when she was young, to help stop a  bullying  situation at her school.    I think the illustrator did such a good job depicting the scenes of the story and showing the emotion that goes along with bullying.  I also felt this could be a good resource children book for teachers to read in the kindergarten to third grade age range, for the subject of bullying.  

 
The very next day, I went into Luck and bought four more books to send to children as gifts. One of the books went to my niece, Kristin for her little girls, Jordon and Dani.  Kristin wrote an article about how her children enjoyed the book that you can read on our website. 

 Now we are working with Margorie to get as many of her books into schools (through our programs) as we can.  The sale of her books, helps Marjorie, who is 82 years old, pay the bills for her house in the country outside of Luck, where she has lived for many years.  We are very happy to buy them from her to share with others.  Soon, they will be available for sale to others through a website set up by her daughter Susan, and we will let you know how you can buy a copy of your very own as soon as possible.
 
The  story book that I wrote, “Annie and Little One”, is a lyrically written story about what to do if kids are behaving meanly, and how to think better thoughts and keep your spirits up.   The two books together, make a good pair for elementary school children to read, to help deal with bullying issues in their lives.  
 
- Christine Tortorella

Happy New Year From Brittany & Christine, John & Nick!

Christine, Brittany, John and Dominick Tortorella with their dogs. The Tortorellas were able to get together for the holidays and spend some much-needed catch-up time.

Brittany and Christine Tortorella would like to wish you a Happy New Year!

The holiday season was so busy for the Tortorellas, and Brittany and Christine are looking forward to spending time preparing their upcoming book, Stubby & Rusty, for publication. In 2013, Christine will be creating the music for the book, while Brittany continues to work on the art for the addition of more animals to the pages. The original version, created for Brittany’s graduate course, received an A! But still the two find there is room for improvement before the publishing process moves forward.

What you may not know about Christine is, she hears the music while she’s writing her books! It actually helps her create. That is why her books also have musical CDs in them. Her books just don’t feel complete without a song.

The Tortorellas hope you have a wonderful year in 2013. Happy New Year!

My True Story About Bullying

 

Kristin’s daughter reading Carl.

 

I am Kristin Wilson, mother of two girls (a toddler and a preschooler), and a children’s book author working through the publishing process. I was not what you would call popular in school. In elementary and middle school I suffered from acne and a number of other unfortunate issues. And I was terribly self conscious.

So when I arrived at my oldest daughter’s preschool recently, and the teacher told me she was removed from dance class for hitting other children not once, not twice but three times, I was horrified. I realize she’s 3, and it is a phase. But she is at least two inches taller than all the other kids in her class and is not petite.

Coincidentally, I received a book in the mail the night before from a close friend. The book is called Carl – A True Story About Bullying by Marjorie Everson. I read it to both of my girls the very next morning. It was a little wordy for my little ones at first, but the illustrations and concept was not lost on my 3-year-old! I was so excited. She asked me why that boy was crying, and it was the perfect opportunity to talk to her about her actions in class the day before. I told her that picking on people, either by hitting or by saying bad things, was not nice. Because she is the biggest, I said, she needed to look out for other people and verbally defend other people when kids are being bullies!

She got it! I’m far from the perfect mother, so any opportunity to open the lines of communication through reading or activities is fantastic for me.

“What do you do if someone is being picked on?” I asked.

“I tell Miss Mel and Miss Tracey,” she said, solemnly (those are her teachers). I am not sure, but I think she realized then that she was the bully in class the day before.

I do recommend reading this book, from a mother’s perspective, to open the lines of communication about bullying. Even my 1-year-old said, “Oh no!” when she saw the pictures of poor little Carl crying. If my little ones can pick it up that quickly, imagine how the older kids would respond!

 

– Kristin Wilson

Author & Mom

 

 

Stubby Gets a Boo Boo!

Stubby gets caught in fishing line in Christine & Brittany’s upcoming book Stubby & Rusty.

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