The
youngest of our seven children arrived as the sixth was starting school. When
Beth was a toddler I discovered what it was like to have an “only” child at
home with me. All the others were almost doubles which meant they always had to
share me, and I always had to entertain and educate in pairs or even double
pairs. When Beth was a preschooler she and I had lots of time alone together.
Even though we lived in a big city, our backyard was wooded. We enjoyed feeding
and observing birds and mammals.
The
illustrations in this book were actually drawn from photographs of Beth doing
all these things. She did share her oatmeal every morning with a flock of
woodpeckers who waited on the backsides of the trees until she stepped out on
the deck. The red heads were peeking around the trees waiting for her. Then the
entire bunch would sweep down and take the warm oatmeal off her wooden spoon as
she tried to plop it down on the deck rail. She played peek a boo with the
thrashers and entertained us with her interpretations of the different birds.
She never called them birdies, she called them by their names.
I
was very busy in those days raising the seven and fostering others, leading
Girl Scout troops, Brownie troops, Cub Scouts, driving car pools, providing
soccer treats, and teaching CCD. I loved writing, did a lot of it, but never
for publication. To begin with, I didn’t have a clue how to go about that. The
photos of little Beth, attached to my typed pages of text, went into my files
with other things I’d written, “just for fun.”
The
children miraculously grew up, married, moved away. Dave and I retired to the
mountains. I began to write in earnest. I joined professional groups and attended
conferences to learn how to do this. Eventually some of my work was
published.
I
was at a large book festival with some of my published books when I saw a
display of children’s books. They weren’t bird books, but somehow they reminded
me of my little Beth books. I talked to the publisher who encouraged me to
submit. With my new knowledge of the craft, I polished up the little Beth books
and submitted my query. The publisher took the entire series based on the query
without ever seeing the manuscript. I was beyond thrilled. The first of the
backyard nature series is Beth’s Birds.
I wrote it for Beth when she was four. It went to contract the week she turned
thirty four.
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About the Book
Title: Beth’s Birds
Genre: Education, Preschool & Kindergarten, picture
Author: Deanna K. Klingel
Website: www.booksbydeanna.com
Publisher: Peak City Publishing, LLC
Little Beth romps through her personal playground showing how she learns the proper names and characteristics of her bird friends. Her antics come alive in the delightful illustrations.
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About the Author
Deanna lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her husband Dave and their golden retriever Buddy. Their seven children, spouses and eleven grandchildren are scattered around the southeast. Deanna enjoys traveling with her books and visiting friends and family along the way.
Connect with Deanna on the Web:
@deannakklingel
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