Page McBrier is a freelance writer and the author of many books for children, including Confessions of a Reluctant Elf and a number of books in the Treehouse Times and the Oliver and Company series, among others. In addition to writing, she has led theater workshops and taught drama in elementary schools. Ms. McBrier currently serves on the board of an arts afterschool program for middle school children. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Rowayton, Connecticut.
Lori Lohstoeter received her BFA from the University of Arkansas and earned her BA in commercial illustration from the ArtCenter College of Design in southern California. Lori was often hired as a children's book illustrator for her vivid palette and bold brushwork. Her work has been featured on packaging for Estee Lauder, billboards for Jose Cuervo tequila, and more. She is an adjunct teacher for color theory at Norwalk Community College.
Hillary Rodham Clinton from the "afterword""Beatrice's Goat" is a heartwarming reminder that families, wherever they live, can change their lives for the better.
An impoverished family begins to flourish after receiving a special giftÄof the four-legged varietyÄin this uplifting picture book set in western Uganda. Beatrice longs to attend school with other village children, but instead she must tend her five younger siblings and help her mother in the fields. Everything starts to change, however, when Beatrice and her family receive a goat, "a lucky gift," says her mother, from a charitable organization. As the months pass, the animal provides the family with sweet milk to enjoy and sell and a pair of kids that will eventually be sold as well. With the goat's bounty, the family soon has enough money to send Beatrice to school. McBrier's tale, inspired by actual events, succeeds in demonstrating the positive ripple effect of the efforts of one organization, but an afterword by Hillary Rodham Clinton sounds like an advertisement for Heifer Project (the donors of the goat). Perhaps the volume's greatest strength is Lohstoeter's (How the Leopard Got His Spots) sunny acrylic paintings, which capture the hues of dusty thatched huts and verdant banana groves of the African landscape. Sweet-faced Beatrice and her mother take center stage, wearing colorful, traditional clothes, and their bond is palpable. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) FYI: Two percent of the publisher's proceeds will be donated to Little Rock, Ark.-based Heifer Project International, a nonprofit group working to end global hunger by providing livestock and training to people in need. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Hillary Rodham Clinton from the "afterword""Beatrice's Goat" is a heartwarming reminder that families, wherever they live, can change their lives for the better.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
